Stephanie Townsend and Katie Groves hit home runs and the Western Nebraska Community College softball team opened the home portion of their schedule in style by dropping Lamar Community College in a run-shortened 8-0 win. The Cougars, however, couldn't ride the first-game hitting as Lamar's Krystal Krietemeyer shut down the Cougar bats to help the Lopes to a 5-2 win in the second game to earn a split of the conference doubleheader Friday at Volunteer Field.
"We are disappointed that we didn't go out and win two games in conference," sophomore Brittany Chacon, who had a leaping line-drive out in the second game, said. "We played really well in the first game considering what we came off of during spring break. In the second game, we left runners on third base three innings in a row and couldn't get them in. A split is a split. We have some more games this weekend so we have to go out and protect our field."
The Cougars were their worst enemy in the second game in suffering the defeat, and it was a sharp contrast of how the Cougars played in the opener.
"The first game we came out sharp," Chacon said. "It was our 
home opener and we were pumped to finally play at home."
WNCC managed nine hits in game one and Taylor Anderson kept the Lamar bats at bay to get the win. The Cougars plated single runs in the first and second inning. Adena Hagen earned a walk in the first inning and then scored on a Katie Groves double for the 1-0 lead.
The Cougars added another run in the second as Townsend blasted a solo home run for the 2-0 lead.
WNCC pushed the lead to 4-0 in the third inning as Allie Alverson led off with a single. Groves followed with a single before Ashton Hughes blasted a run-scoring single for the 4-0 lead. WNCC finished off Lamar in the fifth with four runs. Hagen started things after getting hit by a pitch. Groves drove Hagen in with a 2-run home run, her seventh of the year.
Jordan Schoepflin followed with a double and then Hughes reached base with a single that scored Schoepflin. Hughes scored the game-ending run on a Jackie Cappuccilli single.
Groves paced the team with a 3-for-3 performance, including a double and home run. She also had two runs scored and three RBIs. Hughes also collected two hits, including two RBIs.
Anderson picked up the win in the circle as the sophomore from Riverton, Utah, scattered four hits in five innings of work. She struck out one an did not walk a batter.
In the second game, the Cougars were out-hit 9-6. Lamar took a 3-0 lead after three innings before the Cougars tied the game with two runs in the fifth inning. With one out, Chacon singled to left centerfield. Amanda Saldivar followed by reaching base on an error. That set up Alverson run-scoring single that score Chacon. Hagen then unleased a double that scored Saldivar to tie the game.
WNCC had plenty of opportunities to be ahead as Hughes blasted a triple in the second inning but was left stranded. THey also had runners at third in the third and fourth innings. In the fourth, Schoepflin led off with a double but a fly out and two ground outs stranded the runner at third.
The Cougars thwarted several Lamar scoring attempts. The big one, though, was in the sixth as the Lopes had runners on the corners with one out. WNCC got out of the inning after getting the second out at home plate and the final out as the runner at first was caught in a rundown going to third.
WNCC couldn't ride that defensive effort as Lamar plated three runs in the seventh inning as Courtney Leslie's double cleared the bases to give the Lopes the win.
Brittany Enterline took the loss in the circle as she allowed nine hits and five runs. The freshman from Tracy, Calif., struck out one and walked just one.
Chacon said they need to play a complete game and not just one inning.
"We just need to start stringing our hits together and not just one at a time," she said. "We also need not to go out and play one inning and then not show up the next inning. We have to come out and play two games, though."
WNCC will next be in action Sunday when they face McCook Community College in a doubleheader at 1 p.m. at Volunteer Field. The Cougars were scheduled to play Garden City Community College on Saturday in Scleroderma Day, but that game was cancelled because of the weather forecast. Sunday's game will now be Scleroderma Day as all proceeds from the gate, concessions and T-shirt auction will go towards the Schleroderma Foundation.
First Game
Lamar 000 00 -- 0 4 0
WNCC 112 04 -- 8 9 0
WP -- Taylor Anderson; LP -- Haley Choat; 2B -- WNCC (Katie Groves); HR -- WNCC (Groves, Stephanie Townsend).
Second Game
Lamar (13-22) 002 000 3 -- 5 9 1
WNCC (15-12) 000 020 0 -- 2 6 0
WP -- Krystal Krietemeyer, LP -- Brittany Enterline; 2B -- WNCC (Adena Hagen), Lamar (C0urtney Lewis); 3B -- WNCC (Ashton Hughes).
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