The Western Nebraska Community College softball team heated up offensively on a chilly night in registering a doubleheader sweep over North Platte Community College Wednesday at Volunteer Field.In the opener, Adena Hagen’s triple in the bottom of the seventh scored Megan Burditt with the winning run for a 4-3 victory. The Cougars rode the first-game momentum in waltzing by the Knights 25-1 in five innings in the nightcap to improve to 22-16 on the season and stopping a three-game losing skid.
WNCC coach Maria Winn-Ratliff said it was nice for the Cougars to win a close game after they lost a couple of close games over the weekend.
“I am just excited that they got the win,” she said. “We have been playing some very good competition and coming out on the short end of the stick a little bit. So this win gave them some confidence heading into conference this weekend and the second half of the season.“
Winn-Ratliff said the thing that impressed her the most was the team never lost faith after letting the Knights score. The Cougars even thwarted several North Platte scoring threats three times with runners at third base with less then two outs
“They scored an early run and we didn’t panic. Their pitcher is very good and had some good pitches against us that throw us for a loop,” she said. “We made a few key mistakes and they capitalized on them. It was good to see our players play a full seven innings and when we had to make plays we did.”
North Platte scored first as Carlee Bunac led off the game with a double and scored on a Amanda Paris single for an early 1-0 lead.
WNCC tied the game in the second as Jordan Schoepflin lead off the inning with a triple to right field and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Jacqui Cappuccilli. The Cougars went ahead in the fourth as Katie Groves walked and scored on a Cappuccilli single for a 2-1 lead.
North Platte knotted the game in the fifth with a single run, before WNCC went back ahead 3-2 in the sixth as Groves drew another walk and scored on a Cappuccilli single.
The Cougars couldn’t hold the lead in the seventh as North Platte scored a single run as Ashley Knapp singled and scored the tying run on a Lindsey Clarec single. The Knights then proceeded to have runners at third base twice, but the Cougars defense came up big to stop the rally setting up the seventh inning heroics.
Taylor Anderson picked up the win for the Cougars going all seven innings, scattering eight hits and striking out five.
WNCC managed just five hits as Cappuccilli went 2-for-3 three with two RBIs and Schoepflin went 2-for-3 with a triple and a run scored.
In the second game, the Cougars pounded out 21 hits and starting pitcher Stephanie Townsend struck out eight in four innings of work to lift the Cougars to their 22nd win of the season.
Winn-Ratliff said while it was nice to get two wins, she was pleased in how the team played under the lights, something they will need to do during the regional tournament next month which they will host. Her team responded all the way around.
“I thought Stephanie Townsend came out and threw tremendous. That has been the best outing we have seen out of her this season and hopefully that will give her some confidence,” Winn-Ratliff said. “It was nice of how we came out against the same pitcher that we faced in game one. We just made really good adjustments that put us in good position. We were ahead in the count and I didn’t feel like we were going after bad pitches like we were in the first game. We were also able to string things together and I was real happy for them for that.”
WNCC quickly took control of the game scoring four times in the first inning on three hits, including back-to-back triples by Cappuccilli and Brittany Chacon.
The Cougars pushed the lead to 12-0 with eight runs in the second inning on just two hits and three errors, before scoring three more runs in the third inning on four hits for a 15-0 lead.
WNCC finished the scoring with a 10-run fourth inning that saw the Cougars pound out 12 hits. The big hits included doubles by Chacon, Ashton Hughes and Megan Bourdon.
The Cougars finished with 21 hits with everybody that batted getting a hit and scoring a run. Cappuccilli paced the team with a 4-for-4 game with four runs scored, two RBIs and a triple. Chacon went 2-for-4 with a double, triple, two runs scored and five RBIs.
Other Cougars finishing with multiple hits included Adena Hagen going 3-for-5 with three runs scored; Groves going 2-for-2 with two runs scored; Hughes going 2-for-2 with three runs scored; Anderson going 2-for-5 with three runs scored and two RBIs; and Bourdon went 2-for-2 with two RBIs and a double.
Townsend picked up the win going four innings allowing a run on five hits and striking out eight. Schoepflin pitched the final inning, striking out two.
The Cougars, 22-16, will next be in action Friday and Saturday when they travel to Glendive, Mont., for four conference games against Dawson Community College. They will then face the University of Wyoming in Laramie, Wyo., on Sunday.
Game One
North Platte 100 010 1 – 3 8 2
WNCC 010 101 1 – 4 5 3
WP – Taylor Anderson; 3B – Jordan Schoepflin.
Game Two
North Platte 001 00 – 1 5 5
WNCC (22-16) 483 (10)x – 25 21 0
WP – Stephanie Townsend; 2B – Ashton Hughes, Brittany Chacon, Megan Bourdon, Allie Alverson; 3B – Chacon, Jacqui Cappuccilli.
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