WICHITA, Kan. — The Friends Falcons pulled away late in game one of a scheduled doubleheader Saturday (Apr. 19) to knock off the Bulldogs 11-5 in a rain-shortened, six-inning bout in Wichita.
MC struck first, quickly loading the bases in the top of the first inning before Alexandrea Garcia drew a walk to bring in the first run of the contest.
However, the Falcons answered just as fast as Becca Dunn hit a grand slam in the bottom half of the inning to take a 4-1 advantage.
The Bulldogs pulled cut the deficit in half in the second when Samantha Hollingsworth led off the frame by reaching on an error by the Falcons third baseman before scoring on an RBI double by Karisa Hernandez.
Friends continued to use the longball in their half of the second, adding one to their total with a solo-shot by Pricilla Mora, making it a 5-2 Falcon lead.
The Bulldogs would not go down without a fight though, scratching across two more in the third, starting with a leadoff double by Alivia Lange followed by an RBI single by Garcia. The second run of the inning came thanks to an error by the shortstop, allowing Megan Wright to score.
Things were quiet over the next two innings until the Falcons found their groove again in the bottom of the fifth. An RBI single by Jayden Estabrook and an RBI double by Izzy Jones pushed the Friends lead to 7-4 heading into the sixth.
MC had a chance to really do some damage in the sixth, loading the bases thanks to a pair of walks and a hit-by-pitch, but the Bulldogs were only able to bring in one run on a sacrifice fly by Lange.
As the rain moved in, the Falcons added four more in the bottom of the sixth, including a three-run homer by Dunn.
The Bulldogs were held to just five hits but benefited from four Falcon errors.
Game two against the Falcons will be played on Monday (Apr. 21) at Two Rivers Youth Complex in Wichita with first pitch coming at 5:00 p.m.
