The
Western Nebraska Community College softball team received a couple sparkling
pitching performances as the Cougars picked up two conference wins over McCook
Community College at Volunteer Field on Tuesday.
In
the opener, Bianca Duran and Aria Agle combined on a 5-inning no-hitter as the
Cougars blanked the Indians 13-0. The second game saw Amanda Jones strike out
five to help WNCC register a 2-1 win.
WNCC
coach Maria Winn-Ratliff was pleased of how her team started the day,
especially with the pitching performances. The Cougars did not allow an earned
run on the day and allowed three hits late in the second game. The Cougars went
10 2/3 innings without allowing a hit.
"I
thought Bianca came out and did a nice job for us and it was nice to get Aria
some innings. Holding them to just three baserunners in a game is very good.
They have been a very good hitting team ever since coach [Liz] Jacoby got there,"
she said. "I thought our pitching staff did extremely well and the last
couple of times they really have done a nice job. Anytime we can get a shutout
that is nice. Offensively, I thought we did some good things. We put up six
runs in the first inning and that gives you a little bit of confidence. We did
the things we needed to do throughout the game.
WNCC
completely dominated the first game, scoring six runs on four hits in the first
inning. The big hit was a 2-run, 2-out single by Jocelyn Stubbs. Mariah
Shepherd then delivered a run-scoring double. The run-scoring was capped off
off by a run-scoring single by Sarah Hawryluk for the 6-0 lead.
WNCC
kept excelling offensively by scoring two runs on two hits in the second inning
as Kasey Cash started thigns with a double followed by Shepherd getting another
double.
The
Cougars went up 12-0 on six hits in the third inning. Hawryluk started things
with a slap single followed by back-to-back run-scoring doubles by Duran and
Cash. Stubbs and Shepherd also recorded run-scoring singles in the inning.
Duran
picked up the win going three innings in allowing just one base runner on a
walk. Duran, the freshman from Westminster, Colo., struck out five in the game.
Agle tossed two innings in striking out four and allowing just two runners.
Offensively,
WNCC pounded out 15 hits. Hawryluk lled the way with a 3-for-3 game with two
runs scored, a RBI and two stolen bases. Also recording double-digit hits were
Cash with a 2-for-4 performance with two runs scored, and two doubles.
Stubbs
also went 3-for-4 with a double, two runs scored and three RBIs.Shepherd finished with a 3-for-4
game as well, collecting two doubles, three RBIs, and two runs scored.
The
second game was a different type of a contest as both teams manufactured runs.
For the Cougars, they started things wiht a run in the first as Hawryluk
singled and scored on a single by Danielle Hearn.
The
lead stayed that way until the fifth when Aria Agle led off with a double and
scored on a Gabi Palacios single to go up 2-0.
McCook
finally started to make some noise in the sixth as Erika Basurto led off by
drawing a walk and scored two outs later on an errand throw. McCook finally
recorded their first hit of the game with two outs on a sharp single by SHelby
Vasquez.
McCook
made a 2-out rally in the seventh as former Scottsbluff 3-sport star Danea
Quijas and Christina Perez had back-to-back singles. But, Duran game in and
induced a fly ball to deep left field that Agle easily settled underneath for
the win.
Winn-Ratliff
was pleased with how the pitching staff performed in both games.
"I
thought Amanda threw well and then we went to Bianca for the final out,"
she said. "We still have to get better, but we did not give up any earned
runs and I am real happy with that with our pitching staff. Hopefully they can
keep giving us a chance and we can find ways to score. We will have to do that
every inning from here on out. It is getting tougher and tougher and we are
trying to compete for that number one seed in the conference and we wil have to
score runs in every inning and make adjustments."
WNCC
(29-23) will be back in action Saturday when they travel to face league-leading
Otero Junior College in La Junta, Colo. They will then return home to face
Northeastern Junior College on Tuesday at 3 and 5 p.m.
Game One
McCook 000
00 -- 0 0 3
WNCC 624
1x -- 13 15 1
WP -- Bianca Duran; 2B -- Duran, Kasey Cash 2, Mariah
Shepherd 2,
Game Two
McCook 000
001 0 -- 1 3 0
WNCC 100
010 x -- 2 7 3
WP -- Amanda Jones, S -- Duran; 2B -- Aria Agle.
No comments:
Post a Comment