Wichita, Kan – In their last road trip of the year, the Bulldogs made their way to the campus of Friends University to face the Falcons for a midweek KCAC matchup. Coming into this doubleheader, McPherson had swept the Southwestern College Moundbuilders on their Senior Weekend by a combined score of 17-2.
The Basics
Location: Two Rivers Youth Complex
Records: MC 15-26 (7-19 KCAC), FU 27-18 (17-9 KCAC)
Game One: MC 8, FU 9
Getting the start in Game One for the Bulldogs was
Autumn Baker-Foort who threw for just under five innings, allowing three earned runs off of eight hits. The Falcons found the opening run of the ballgame in the bottom of the first after Candence Magana scored on an infield error. They would later score in the second on an RBI single from Raeleen Hernandez, taking the 2-0 lead.
McPherson found a pair of runs in the third and the fifth inning. In the third,
Andrea Solis flew out deep enough to left field to send home
Victoria Thornton on a sacrifice fly.
Sidney Larrew tied the game in the fifth inning on an infield error.
The Falcons took flight in the fifth with a four spot that lifted them to a 6-2 lead over the Bulldogs, but the visitors held their ground. In the sixth inning,
Hailey Shubin drove in
Justice Large on an RBI single. Shortly after, Thornton batted in two runs on a two RBI single to center field to get the Bulldogs back to within one run.
In the seventh, Larrew's RBI double to the gap in left field knotted the game up at 6-6. She would later round the bases and take the lead for McPherson following Thornton's swing to left field that got past the left fielder.
Down to two outs in the bottom of the seventh, the Friends were down to their final three strikes. On the first pitch, Cambell Riordan homered to center field and brought in two runs, walking off Game One with the 8-7 victory.
Game Two: MC 4, FU 3
In similar fashion, the Falcons opened up Game Two capitalizing on an infield error by the Bulldogs in the second inning to score the first run of the game. Continuing her day into the second game, Larrew batted in the first run for the Bulldogs in the top of the fifth to knot the game at 1-1 after two scoreless innings of softball.
Sophia Walters was able to score a run in the fifth after Thornton reached first base on an error by Friends' first baseman, giving McPherson the 2-1 lead.
Riordan kept her bat hot following her walk-off homerun in Game One; in the bottom of the fifth, she would level the game with a solo homerun to left field on a 1-0 pitch. Friends took the lead back in the sixth at 3-2 with Chloe Enslinger's RBI single.
This was the final run scored for the Falcons for the remainder of Tuesday evening.
In the top of the seventh with bases loaded, Thornton managed to send the ball to right field on an 0-2 pitch to bat in Sam Hollingsworth and tie the game at 3-3. The go-ahead run came from
Andrea Solis' sacrifice fly that brought in Larrew for the 4-3 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh, it would be three batters up and down as the Bulldogs held on for the 4-3 road victory in Game Two.
