WICHITA, Kan. - Beth Golitko had an RBI single in the eighth inning of game two in an attempt to take a final Western Illinois lead over Wichita State, but it wasn't enough as the Shockers swept both games of the doubleheader in extra innings, Tuesday.
"I am very proud of our team," Western Illinois head coach
Holly Van Vlymen said. "They played with heart and passion the last three games, which has shown the true potential of this team. Our record does not reflect the true talent that this team holds."
Back-to-back singles with a stolen base allowed the Westerwinds (1-14) a first-inning 1-0 lead over the Shockers (18-8).
Colleen Biebel was the first on base with a single to third base. She stole second in
Samantha Valentine's at bat and advanced to third when Valentine singled to the pitcher. Rachel Heagney earned the RBI with a ground out to second.
Wichita State responded in the bottom half of the inning as an RBI double by Cynthia Verhulst drove in leadoff hitter Katie McGeeney with two outs and tied the game at 1-1.
With two outs and
Julie DePolo on first in the top of the fourth inning, Golitko doubled deep into left center to score DePolo and take the Western Illinois lead 2-1. Catcher
Anna Nelson was next at bat and singled to the second baseman, which drove in Golitko from second base.
Rachel Sinks popped the ball up to second basemen Kara L'Huiller, who dropped the ball to keep the inning alive. Sinks stole second, but a ground out to third base ended the inning with Nelson and Sinks stranded.
A Western Illinois fielding error in the bottom of the sixth inning put a runner on first with two outs. The Shockers' L'Huillier singled to center field to advance the runner and have runners on first and second. With one out on the board, Cynthia Verhulst singled to right field to score the runner on second and a fly out to left field scored the runner on third to tie the game. Wichita State's pinch hitter Heather Gerritse grounded the ball to
Lauren Furgala who threw home to catch the runner trying to score.
Game one went into extra innings with the score tied at 3-3. In the top of the eighth inning, Biebel sac bunted to push Mason, who was on second due to the tiebreaker rule, to third base. Mason scored on a Valentine single up the middle to take the lead 4-3.
Wichita State's Katie McGeeney tripled to the right field fence to drive in the runner on second and tie the game at 4-4 in the bottom half of the inning. A ground ball that Furgala fielded and sent home to catch the runner was unsuccessful as the umpire called McGeeney safe at home and the Shockers defeated the Westerwinds, 5-4, in eight innings.
The Westerwinds had seven hits to Wichita State's six.
Kamren Ferguson suffered the loss, striking out four and walking none, while Ashly Bright (10-6) recorded the win in only one inning of work.
The Shockers were the first to score in game two as a single to right field, with two outs, scored Britnee Barnett, who doubled earlier in the inning. A ground ball straight back at pitcher
Courtney Jacobson allowed for a play at first to take the Westerwinds into the second inning.
Wichita State brought the score to 2-0 in the bottom of the second inning with a Kiersten Dixon RBI triple to center field.
Sinks doubled to left center with one out on the board in the top of the third. Furgala singled to left field to advance Sinks to third. Furgala stole second base on the next at bat as Sinks went home on a passed ball to put the Westerwinds on the board for the first time in the game.
Britt Mason singled deep into left center to score Furgala from second and tie the game at 2-2.
Mason stole third and as the Shockers were attempting to catch her, the ball got loose and Mason was able to take the first lead of the game for Western Illinois. Valentine RBI singled up the middle before a double play ended the inning with the Westerwinds leading 4-2.
The Westerwinds kept the Shockers from scoring in the next two innings before adding another run in the top of the fifth when Furgala hit a leadoff double to left field and stole third on the next at bat. Mason singled up the middle to score Furgala.
Racheal Heagney opened the sixth inning with a single to left field and advanced to second on a fielder's choice. Pinch runner
Michelle Prieto came in for Heagney as another fielder's choice loaded the bases. Prieto went home on a passed ball, taking the Western Illinois lead to 6-2.
Wichita State's Lauren Coleman homered to left field and McGeeney singled to left field to score the runner on second and bring the score to 6-4 in the bottom of the sixth inning.
The seventh inning led off with back-to-back Shocker home runs to tie the game at 6-6 and take the game into extra innings.
Golitko singled to left field with two outs to score Valentine from second base in the top of the eighth inning and take the lead 7-6. The Shockers answered back in the bottom half of the inning as the runner on second scored off a single to short and in an attempt to make the third out at first, the runner at third scored to defeat Western Illinois 8-7 in eight innings.
In an attempt to get Western out of a jam, Ferguson (1-9) came in on relief in the seventh inning and suffered the loss in 1.2 innings of work. Bright recorded her second win on the day striking out six batters in three innings.
"Both Kamren and Courtney pitched great games today," Van Vlymen said. "They worked ahead and had good ball movement against a great hitting ball club like Wichita State. I think our hitters did a great job of stringing hits together and our base running was phenomenal today."
Western Illinois will open conference play against IPFW in the home opener, Friday, March 14 at 3 p.m.
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