McPHERSON, Kan. (macbulldogs.com) --- The McPherson College softball team concluded a successful weekend with a split Saturday as the McPherson Invitational wrapped up at Wall Park.
The Bulldogs (11-9) were tripped up by the College of Saint Mary, 7-4, in the opener before run-ruling Hastings College, 10-2, in five innings.
Saint Mary (Neb.) 7, McPherson 4
The Flames put the pressure to their hosts right away with a run in the top of the first inning. Nicki Larsen, CSM's starting pitcher, helped her own cause with a two-out triple to right-center, then scored on a double down the left-field line by Whitney Chamberlain.
Saint Mary used 11 hits and six McPherson errors to build their advantage, tacking on two runs each in the third, fourth and fifth innings.
The Bulldogs stranded two runners in the first, but was able to push across two runs of their own in the third and fifth innings.
Taylor Hires-Caulk (Fernley, Nev., Central Arizona College) led off the third with a triple to deep right-center, then scored on a
Jessica Jones (Brentwood, Calif., Liberty HS) RBI single to right. Jones moved around to third on a groundout and a wild pitch before scoring on a
Maile Deutsch (Palmer, Texas, Ennis HS) RBI single up the middle.
In the fifth, Jones reached on bunt single to open the inning and later scored on a double by
Kimberly Trice (Antioch, Calif., Tennessee State University).
Ali Smith (Lodi, Calif., Lodi HS) followed with an RBI single two batters later to score pinch-runner
Jordynn Corea (Amarillo, Texas, Tascosa HS).
That would be all for McPherson as the Bulldogs were retired in order in the sixth and seventh innings, including a trio of ground-outs to second to end the game.
Jones had two of McPherson's nine hits, drove in one run and scored two others.
Christie Betker (Reno, Nev., Reno HS) took the loss in the circle, giving up five runs (three earned) on six hits and two walks while striking out four in 3 2/3 innings.
Shelby Bonn (Shawnee, Kan., Mill Valley HS) came on in relief, allowing two runs on five hits and a walk with three K's over the final 3 1/3 innings.
Taelar Solano picked up three hits, including a triple, drove in one and scored twice. Chamberlain and Alicia Baca drove in two apiece.
Larsen finished with a double and a triple at the plate. In the circle, she gave up four runs on nine hits without issuing a walk to get the complete-game win. She struck out three.
"I really feel we were putting a lot of pressure on ourselves and so, when we got into the [batter's] box with runners on, we got a little tight instead of staying loose and swinging through the ball," said head coach
Ashley Hickman. "Instead of thinking one batter at a time, we were getting ahead of ourselves. We have to put the pressure on the defense. That's what [Saint Mary] did to us early and they turned it around on us."
McPherson 10, Hastings 2 (5 innings)
The Bulldogs wasted little time building a lead against the Broncos, scoring six runs in the bottom of the first inning. Jones opened the frame with a double to left.
Chelsea Conrad (Ione, Calif., Argonaut HS) followed with an infield single to score Jones, moving all the way around to third on an overthrow. She would score moments later when Trice reached on an error at short. After
Destiny Bacon (La Mesa, Calif., Grossmont HS) drew a two-out walk to load the bases,
Jenna Christensen (Fortuna, Calif., Fortuna Union HS) and
Taylor Perez (Tulsa, Okla., Memorial HS) came through with two-run doubles sandwiched around a Hires-Caulk single to left. Jones beat out a bunt single for her second hit of the inning, but the inning drew to a close when Conrad popped out to Hastings pitcher Myra McGuire for the third out.
The Broncos got on the board in the fourth inning, cutting the McPherson advantage to 6-2 when Kirsten Abbott plated two with a single to shallow left-center.
Back-to-back doubles by Trice and Deutsch put runners on second and third for the Bulldogs in the bottom of the fourth with Trice making it a 7-2 ballgame when she scored on a Smith fielder's choice.
Hastings went down in order in the fifth, while McPherson rallied for three runs with two outs in the bottom half of the frame to enforce the run rule. Perez hit a two-out single to left and later scored on a Conrad double to right-center. Jones followed by reaching on another bunt single and came across with Conrad on Trice's walk-off two-run double to deep left-center.
The Bulldogs pounded out 14 hits - including eight doubles - in their tournament finale. Jones and Trice had three hits and two runs scored apiece, while Conrad, Trice, Christensen and Perez each had two RBIs.
Katy Wilson (Princeton, Texas, Princeton HS) scattered two runs on four hits while striking out three to get the five-inning win.
Ziepke accounted for two of the Broncos' four hits.
"Talking to the team between games, we decided that we needed to take the same approach we had [Friday] - combining pitching and hitting," added Hickman. "Once we figured that out, I think we were fine. If we can put the pressure on the other team early on, we'll be fine. Seeing a pitcher we had success against just last weekend certainly helped as well. Katy [Wilson] held her own today in the circle. She was able to mix up her pitches, but eventually settled in with three or four go-to pitches that she really felt comfortable with."
The Bulldogs wrap up a stretch of 12 games in 11 days Monday when they host MidAmerica Nazarene University (9-6) at 1 p.m. Monday at Bulldog Park.
"Just like this weekend...we'll need to come out loose and apply pressure to their defense early. Hopefully, our pitchers will stay strong throughout the day as we try to build toward a couple of victories."
