Ashton Hughes struck out 12 and Jordan Schoepflin had four doubles in leading the Western Nebraska Community College softball team to a sweep of Black Hillls State University in the Cougars home-opener Thursday afternoon at Volunteer Field.
Hughes tossed a 4-hitter in striking out 12, including six straight in leading WNCC to a 5-0 win in game one. The second game saw the Cougars heat up for 13 runs on 14 hits in registering a 13-5 win in six innings.
The win pushed the No. 18 WNCC team to 17-6 on the season and now winners of 11 of its 13 games.
Jordan Schoepflin, sophomore from Arvada, Colo., said this was a good win for them in opening up the home portion of their season.
"I think it was nice to be on own home field. We just feel more comfortable . i think we did well," she said. "We always come out a little shaky in the second game, too relaxed after a win. We have to get better at that and come out harder and back up Jones on the mound more." WNCC did pick up two spectacular pitching performances in the win. Hughes was her dominate self in the opener, but it was the pitching of Amanda Jones in the second game that lifted the team. Jones, who struggled in her last two starts, picked up the complete game win by scattering seven hits and giving up five runs.
"It was nice for us for her [Jones] to complete a game because her last two outings we had to go to Ashton out of the bullpen," WNCC head coach Maria Winn-Ratliff said. "For her to give up a run and then us come back and then to give up the lead again, it was nice that she kept her composure and have confidence enough to keep us in the ball game. She did a very nice job of getting the win and couple of late-inning flyouts. Offensively, we finally came out and did what we needed to do. to win the game." Overall, though, Winn-Ratliff was pleased with how the team played.
"Game one I thought offensively and defensively we played really well," she said. "Game two I thought we struggled a little bit defensively and weren't as crisp. Jones had a period where she struggled a little bit, but then I thought she came back in innings five and six and showed a lot of poise and did some really nice things on the mound."
The first game was dominated by Hughes in the circle as the sophomore hurler faced juist 26 batters in seven innings. Offensively, WNCC did just enough to get the win. The Cougars opened up with a single run in the first before adding two more in the third and single runs in the fourth and sixth innings for the 5-0 win.
Sarah Hawryluk paced the team with a 2-for-3 game with two singles and a run scored. Schoepflin went 1-for-2 with a double, two RBIs, a run scored and two walks. Jacqui Cappuccilli also added a run-scoring double in the win.
The second game saw the Cougars open up offensively, pounding out 14 hits including four doubles. Schoepflin had three of the doubles as she went 3-for-3 with four runs scored and a walk.
Schoepflin said she was waiting for the right pitch to hit.
"I just go up there looking for my pitch and if it is there I take it," she said. "We [the team] are really good hitters and I think we just have to know how to attack better pitches. overall we are great hitters."
Black Hills got on the scoreboard first, scoring once in the first as Aleishia Giesey doubled home Karly Ackerman. WNCC came back to take a 3-1 lead in the second as Hughes had a run-scoring double followed by Allie Alverson getting a run-scoring single for a 3-1 lead.
BHSU fought back grabbing a 4-3 lead in the top of the third inning on three hits. Giesey and Kelsie Chambers had back-to-back run scoring doubles to help the Yellow Jackets' cause . The lead was short lived as WNCC added two runs in the bottom of the frame on a double by Schoepflin and run-scoring singles by Hughes and Bree Bitton for a 5-4 lead.
BHSU tied the game in the top of the fourth at 5-5, but WNCC changed the momentum with a 5-run fourth inning to grab a 10-5 lead. WNCC scored their five runs on five hits, including a run-scoring double by Schoepflin and a 2-run single by Megan Bourdon.
WNCC added a single run i the fifth and then won the game in the sixth with two runs. Allie Alverson and Amanda Saldivar singled in the last frame and both stole home on a passed ball to end the game via the run rule.
WNCC finished the game with 14 hits including a number of players collected multiple hits in the game. Schoepflin paced the team with a 3-for-3 game with three doubles, four runs scored and one RBI.
Also collecting multiple hits were Hughes with a 2-for-4 game Alverson going 2-for-3 with a run scored and RBI, and Hawryluk going 3-for-4 with three singles, a run scored and a RBI.
WNCC, 17-6, will be back in action Saturday and Sunday when they host Dawson Community College. Saturday's contest begins at 1 p.m. and Sunday's doubleheader starts at noon.
"I think if we play like we did today, we should come away with four victories this weekend," Winn-Ratliff said. "Schoepflin hit the ball extremely well today and I thought Ashton threw tremendous and Jones threw well enough to win. If we continue to do the little things right, keep the pressure on their pitching staff, we can get some wins."
Schoepflin said that it is important that they win the conference games especially at home.
"We just need to come out hard," she said. "We don't lose at home and these are really important for us because they are at home."
Game One
Black Hills 000 000 0 -- 0 4 0
WNCC 102 100 x -- 5 5 0
WP -- Ashton Hughes; LP -- Katie Wagner; 2B -- WNCC (Jordan Schoepflin); BHSU (Aleisha Giesey).
Second Game
Black Hills 203 100 -- 5 7 1
WNCC (17-6) 032 512 -- 13 14 3
WP -- Amanda Jones; LP -- Kelsie Chambers; 2B -- WNCC (Schoepflin 3, Jacqui Cappuccilli, Hughes); BHSU (Giesey 2, Chambers).
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