Kasey
Cash hit her first-ever cycle and the No. 15-ranked Western Nebraska Community
College softball team had totaled 31 hits in sweeping a conference doubleheader
from Northeastern Junior College Wednesday afternoon at Volunteer Field.
Cash
had a single, two doubles, triple, a home run, four runs scored and five RBIs
in the second game that saw the Cougars pull out a 15-11 win. In the opening
game, the Cougars scored six, sixth-inning runs to prevail 6-2.
Cash finished the two games going 7 for 9, including
five runs scored and six RBIs. Cash also picked up her 14th and 15th home runs
of the season, which ties her for third in the nation.
Cash
said it felt good to hit for her first-ever cycle, and attributes that to just
going up to the plate and making contact with the ball.
"I
had just came into the dugout after I just hit a single and I said all I need
is a home run to get my cycle," she said. "But I couldn't go with the
mindset at the plate like that. I pulled through and finished the cycle."
Cash
said they needed all the offense they could muster against a NJC team that is
2-13 overall and 1-5 in conference play.
"At
the beginning of both games, I think we struggled a little bit especially the
beginning of the first one," Cash said. "We were kind of shaky but
then we pulled it together and brought it together as a team and pulled out two
wins."
The
second game, where the Cougars pounded out 19 hits and scored 15 runs, was a
fight. NJC had a 3-1 lead after one inning and a 5-3 lead after two innings. A
big key to the Cougars not scoring runs was leaving the bases loaded twice --
in the first inning and then once again in the sixth inning.
The
third inning was the difference in the contest as Cougars scored six times on
seven hits. The Cougars started things with singles by Shelby McGraw, Lindsey
Shiels=Brophy, Haley Paxton and Cash. Jennifer Cottle then unloaded the bases
with a triple to put WNCC up 9-5.
The
Cougars added three more runs in the fourth and sixth inning. Cash had the big
hit in the fourth-inning, taking the second pitch and placing it firmly beyond
the right centerfield fence for a 3-run home run, her 15th of the season, and
finishing off the cycle. Cash previously had a double in the first, a triple in
the second, and a single in the third. She added a second double in the sixth
with a lead-off two-bagger. WNCC followed suit with three runs to go up 15-8.
Besides
Cash's five-hit contest, Cottle went 4-for-5 with four RBIs. McGraw and Paxton
were the only other players to collect more than one hit as each had two
singles.
Ravae
Herrera picked up the win in going seven innings in allowing 11 runs on 11
hits. Herrera struck out five and walked eight.
In
the opener, Duran struck out four and scattered five hits while allowing two runs
in leading the Cougars' defensively to the win.
Offensively,
the Cougars managed just 12 hits, including big hits from Shiels-Brophy, Hearn,
and Paxton in the sixth inning.
Before
the sixth, the Cougars were baffled from NJC starting pitcher Margo Beaumont,
who had a shutout through five innings with the Plainswomen leading 1-0. Cash
changed the complexion of the game in the sixth as she took the first pitch and
drove it over the right centerfield fence to knot the score. After that, WNCC
kept the pressure on. Shiels-Brophy had a huge hit, a one-out single that scored
two runs to put the Cougars ahead. Hearn and Paxton followed with back-to-back
doubles.
Hearn
led the team with a 3-for-3 game, including a double, run scored and RBI. Cash,
Paxton, and Angel Council each had two hits. Paxton was 2-for-3 with a double
and two RBIs, while Cash had a home run.
WNCC,
26-7, will be back in action Friday when they host Lamar Community College in a
conference doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. at Volunteer Field. Cash said they
have to be ready at the start to pick up two wins against Lamar.
"
We definitely will did to have a solid defense and a solid offense to beat
Lamar," she said. "They will come out ready to beat us so I think we
will want to come out stronger than they will and get two more wins. It has to
start in the first inning."
First Game
NJC 010
000 1 -- 2 5 0
WNCC 000
006 x -- 6 12 0
WP -- Bianca Duran; 2B -- Danielle Hearn, Haley Paxton;
HR -- Kasey Cash.
Second Game
NJC (2-13) 320
003 3 -- 11 11 3
WNCC (26-7) 126
303 x -- 15 19 2
WP -- Ravae Herrera; 2B -- Cash; 3B -- Cash, Jennifer
Cottle; HR -- Cash.
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