WNCC falls twice to Black Hills State

                SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Western Nebraska Community College softball team’s offense was non-existent Wednesday against Black Hills State University in Spearfish, S.D.

                In the opener, Black Hills State scored four runs in the in the sixth inning to pull out the 4-0 win. In the second game, the Cougars managed just two hits in falling to Black Hills State 7-1.

                In the two games, WNCC managed just six hits.

                In the opener,  Bree Bitton had three of the four hits as the freshman from Clinton, Utah, went 3-for-3. Mariah Faifer had the other single.

                WNCC had plenty of changes to plate runs in the opening game as they left the bases loaded in the fifth. Jordan Schoepflin started the inning with a walk followed by a single by Bitton. Allie Alverson then loaded the bases by earning a walk, but that was it.

                Black Hills finally broke the ice in the sixth inning as they scored four times on a single, two errors and a walk.

                Amanda Jones took the loss in the circle, giving up four runs on four hits. Jones also struck out five and faced 29 batters.

                The second game wasn’t much better offensively or defensively for the Cougars.  The Cougars gave up five early runs to fall after two innings. The Cougars committed three errors in the contest.

                WNCC finally managed to scratch across a run in the sixth inning as Megan Bourdon blasted a home run to cut the lead to 5-1. Black Hills added two more runs in the bottom of the inning for the final 7-1 margin.

                Aria Agle picked up the loss, going  5 1/3 innings while scattering eight hits and giving up seven runs. Agle struck out five. Sarah Ward-Hadden finished the game, going 2/3 of an inning.

                Bourdon led the team with the only two hits of the game, going 2-for-3.

                WNCC, 40-13, will be back in action with their final Region IX contests of the season against Lamar Community College on Friday beginning at 2 p.m. at Volunteer Field.           

First Game

WNCC                   000 000 0 – 0 4 4

Black Hills           000 006 x – 4 4 0

LP – Amanda Jones.

Second Game

WNCC (40-13)    000 001 0 – 1 2 3

Black Hills           230 002 x – 7 8 1

LP – Aria Agle; HR – Megan Bourdon.