WNCC softball shuts out Chandler-Gilbert

PHOENIX -- Western Nebraska Community College’s pitching core shutout Chandler-Gilbert Community College in a doubleheader Wednesday night.

In the opener, Kelsey Garner continued her domination in the circle by striking out six in a 4-0 win. Then, Natasha Dypchey and Ashley Patton combined on a five-hitter as the Cougars claimed a 9-0 win to run their record to 20-4 on the season.

“In game one, we played good enough to win,” head coach Maria Winn-Ratliff said. “In the second game, we had a good pitching performance in the circle from Natasha and Ashley Patton, and we played well together.”

The second game was the Cougars best performance as they pounded out 14 hits in scoring the nine runs. Six of the team’s 19 hits were extra base hits, including two triples by Jessie McNabb.

WNCC took a 1-0 lead in the first inning and then opened up the game in the third. With two outs, McNabb had a run-scoring triple followed by doubles by Lauren Bourdon and Amanda Torimaru.

WNCC added three more runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth for the 9-0 win.

McNabb, Bourdon and Torimaru led the team with 3-for-4 performances. McNabb had two runs scored, two RBIs, a double and two triples, while Bourdon had two runs scored, two RBIs, and a double. Torimaru was a home run short of the cycle finishing with a single, double and triple.

Dypchey picked up the win in the circle, striking out four in five innings of work before Patton pitched the sixth and striking out one.

In the first game, Garner picked up her ninth win of the season but striking out six and scattering five hits in the 4-0 win.

WNCC quickly got on the scoreboard with a single run in the first as Lauren Mills doubled and scored on a McNabb Sacrifice hit.

The Cougars added a single run in the sixth and then added two insurance runs in the seventh for the win.

Torimaru led the team with a 3-for-3 performance, including two doubles and a single. Mills went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, an RBI and a double.

The Cougars will wrap up the Spring Break trip with a doubleheader against Gateway Community College Thursday.

Game One
WNCC 100 001 2 -- 4 6 1
Chandler-Gilbert 000 000 0 -- 0 5 3
WP -- Garner; 2B -- Mills.

Game Two
WNCC (20-4) 103 032 -- 9 14 0
Chandler-Gilbert 000 000 -- 0 5 0
WP -- Dypchey; 2B -- McNabb, Bourdon, Torimaru; 3B -- McNabb 2, Torimaru.