WNCC softball splits contests against Frank Phillips

BORGER, Texas – The Western Nebraska Community College softball team opened their season splitting games Thursday afternoon against Frank Phillips College in Borger, Texas.

The Cougar women, who are pre-season ranked No. 11 in the country, suffered a 6-4 loss in the opener before rebounding with a 7-5 win in the second game of the twinbill.

“You could tell they had the jitters especially with the pre-season ranking and trying to live up to everyone’s expectations,” head coach Maria Winn-Ratliff said. “In the second game, we started hitting the ball a lot better and Kelsey Garner had a good outing in the circle, picking up her first collegiate win.”

WNCC pounded out 10 hits in scoring the seven runs in the team’s first victory of the season. The Cougars also used the long ball twice in collecting the win – a 2-run, 7th-inning shot by Allie Griffin and a solo dinger by Amanda Hensley in the second inning.

The Cougars trailed 2-0 after one inning and then Hensley put the Cougars on the scoreboard with her first home run of the season. WNCC took the lead in the third with two runs, 3-2. With two outs, Alec Voci and Jessie McNabb singled, and then both scored on a Kayli Allen double.

Frank Phillips retook the lead 4-3 in the fourth inning, but it was short-lived as the Cougars plated two runs each in the fifth and seventh inning. Allen and Griffin started things with back-to-back singles. Kara Ryman then had a run-scoring sacrifice followed by a Hensley run-scoring single.

Allen started things in the seventh by reaching on a single. She later scored on Griffin’s 2-run home run to put WNCC up 7-4.

Allen paced the Cougars with a 3-for-4 game, including two runs scored, two RBIs, and a double. Griffin and Hensley each added two hits. Griffin had two runs scored, two RBIs, a home run and a stolen base; while Hensley had four runs scored, two RBIs and a home run.

Garner, the freshman from Saskatchewan, Canada, collected the win scattering five hits, while striking out four and walking none.

In the opener, the Cougars fell short, giving up two big innings to Frank Phillips. The Lady Plainsmen scored three times each in the third and sixth innings for their six runs. WNCC, showed some offense, putting up a three-spot in the fifth inning.

Kelsi Baldwin led off by reaching base on an error. She later scored on a Voci 2-run home run for the Cougars first runs of the season. McNabb scored the third run, racing home on a Ryman single to tie the game at 3-3.

WNCC added a single run in the seventh as Mandy Pounds singled and scored on a Voci single.

Voci was the only Cougar to register multiple hits. Voci, the freshman from Colorado Springs, Colo., went 3-for-4 with a home run, a double and RBIs. Winn-Ratliff also said that Voci’s defense in centerfield was stellar, recording two diving catches.

Natasha Dypchey took the loss in the circle, allowing nine hits, four earned runs, one strikeout and two walks.

WNCC, 1-1, will be back in action today when they compete in the 2-day Odessa Tournament in Odessa, Texas. The Cougars will face Navarro College at 8 a.m., Midland College at 10 a.m. and West Texas at 5 p.m., before facing Howard College and Odessa College on Saturday.

First Game
WNCC 000 030 1 – 4 8 2
Frank Phillips 003 003 x – 6 9 4
LP – Natasha Dypchey (0-1), 2B – Alec Voci; HR – Voci.

Second Game
WNCC (1-1) 012 020 2 – 7 10
Frank Phillips 201 100 1 – 5 6
WP – Kelsey Garner (1-0); 2B – Kayli Allen; HR – Allie Griffin, Amanda Hensley.