PEORIA, Ill. – The Quincy University softball ended this weekend's Springfield Invitational with two strong showings. The Hawks ended Friday with a 12-5 win over Nebraska-Kearney, and a close extra inning loss to Central Missouri 7-6.
Game 1
The early morning did not have an effect on the Hawks' bats as they came out swinging early in the first inning.
Megan Sharpshair drew a walk to start the game, and
Kay Bettendorf singled to advance her to second.
With two on and one out,
Morgan Heckman hit an RBI single to left field bringing in Sharpshair. This gave the Hawks a 1-0 lead. Ferguson then grounded out to first base allowing Bettendorf to score, extending the lead to 2-0.
QU continued their solid hitting in the second inning.
Courtney Kernich singled to start off the inning, and
Audrey Hermann reached base on a Loper error.
Megan Sharpshair later walked to load the bases. Bettendorf then singled to right field scoring Kernich and Hermann, making the lead 4-0.
Shaprshair added another run when she scored on an RBI groundout by
Kylie Powers, pushing the lead to 5-0. Later in the inning, Heckman continued to see the ball well as she singled to right field scoring Bettendorf. The Hawks finished the second inning with four runs, two hits and a 6-0 lead.
Morgan Tanksley kept Nebraska-Kearney at bay until they scored a pair in the bottom of the third inning cutting the lead to 6-2.
Alex DeVaney came in to relieve Tanksley after the inning.
Tanksley allowed four runs on six hits and struck out one.
QU answered right back in the top of the fourth.
After Powers singled to left field, Heckman doubled to left center. The Hawks loaded the bases after
Remi Ferguson reached on a fielder's choice.
Jessica Poore came to the plate and hit a fly ball to left field that was dropped. Powers and Heckman scored on the error. This pushed the score 8-2.
Karlee Arnold hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning to cut QU's lead to 8-4.
Heckman collected yet another extra-base hit with a lead-off triple. She later scored on an RBI groundout by Poore, making the score 9-4.
Kernich was awarded first base after she was hit by a pitch. She then advanced to third on a Hermann double to left center.
Dana Walsh then reached base on a throwing error, which scored Kernich and Hermann. These two insurance runs pushed the lead to 11-4.
The Hawks added one more in the inning as Walsh scored on a Sharpshair double to right field. The score stood at 12-4.
Nebraska-Kearney plated one more run in the bottom of the sixth, but could not overcome the deficit. The Hawks went on to win by a score of 12-5.
Game 2
The Hawks took on the Central Missouri Jennies for the second time in two days, and the Jennies were the first to strike. A lead off single and a stolen base put a runner in scoring position early.
A sacrifice bunt moved the runner to third with one out. Central Missouri drove in the run with a double and moved ahead 1-0. The Hawks were unable to take advantage of a bases loaded situation with two outs in the bottom half of the first.
The Jennies added an unearned run in the next inning after an error allowed a run to come in. After the run scored, the batter was thrown out at second for the third out. UCM led 2-1.
Quincy left a pair of runner on base in the second, and UCM came back up to bat. The Jennies added a score in the third off a double steal in a first and third situation. Central Missouri went ahead 3-1.
The Hawks were able to get back a run in the bottom of the fifth. After a lead off walk to
Kay Bettendorf, an out was recorded. The next batter,
Morgan Heckman singled to put runners on first and second.
An error on the Jennies' shortstop allowed Bettendorf to score from second, but the Hawks did not add any more in the inning. QU trailed 3-2.
Both teams delivered runs in the 6th inning. Central Missouri had a lead off single then a two-run home run to move ahead 5-2. Alex Devaney came in to pitch for the Hawks and worked around some hits to leave the deficit at three runs.
In the bottom half, the Hawks rattled off three straight hits with one out.
Megan Sharpshair doubled to score a run, then
Kay Bettendorf singled to score Sharpshair.
Morgan Heckman came up big once again with a two-out RBI triple. Quincy tied the game 5-5.
The seventh inning was quiet for both teams, and the game went to extra innings. In the extra innings, a runner was placed on second base. UCM scored two runs off three hits to go ahead 7-5.
The Hawks had life when an error on the pitcher allowed
Courtney Kernich score after being placed at second. Bettendorf reached on an error by the shortstop. Runners were on first and second with one out.
Quincy had back-to-back outs to first base to seal the 7-6 win for UCM.
Game 1 Stat Leaders
Morgan Heckman – 5-5, 2 RBIs, 2R, 3B, 2B
Kay Bettendorf – 3-5, 2 RBIs, 2R
Alex DeVaney – 4IP, 1R, 3H, 3K
Game 2 Stat Leaders
Morgan Heckman - 2-5, RBI, 3B
Kylie Powers - 2-5, 2R
Alex Devaney - 3IP, 2R, 1ER, 0BB
Record
3-5
