Seward Stunned By Glendale

On paper a sweep was likely Wednesday afternoon in Glendale, Arizona as the 9^th ranked team in NJCAA Division I, the Seward County Lady Saints, took on a sub .500 NJCAA Division II team in the Glendale Gauchos.  The paper was right, but the result was shocking as the Gauchos shutout Seward in game one of their double header 6-0 and stormed back from down 6-0 in game two to beat the Lady Saints 9-6 to sweep the double dip with the gals in green.

The Lady Saints looked like they were sleepwalking early on against Glendale as Seward pitching walked two Gaucho hitters and a pair of Lady Saint errors allowed Glendale to cash in both of those walks to take a 2-0 lead in the 1^st. 

After exploding for a school record 29 runs two games prior, Seward's offensive troubles continued Wednesday against Glendale.  The Lady Saints were shutout in their previous game against South Mountain and remained scoreless through three innings against the Gauchos as they faced a 2-0 hole. 

Glendale added a run by playing small ball in the 3^rd to go ahead 3-0 and Seward stranded a runner at third in the top half of the 4^th as the Gauchos remained in front 3-0.

Seward's offense was gifted a pair of runners in the 5^th with a walk and a hit batter, but yet again they couldn't do anything with the runners, stranding them both at innings end to remain behind 3-0.

Glendale added two runs on just one hit in the bottom of the 5^th thanks to two more Seward County errors to pad their lead to 5-0. 

Once again in the 6^th the Lady Saints defense was as suspect as their non-existent offense as two errors handed Glendale an insurance run to make it 6-0 Gauchos going to the 7^th. 

The Lady Saints were retired in order in the 7^th as Glendale wrapped up the 6-0 win to hand Seward their second straight shutout loss. 

Seward and Glendale actually both finished with 5 hits in the game, but 6 Lady Saint errors led to 5 unearned Gaucho runs in the 6-0 defeat.  Pokey Ewell was the only Seward player with more hit in the loss and Ewell also had the Lady Saints only extra base hit in the contest.  Katelyn Craker was dealt just her second loss of the season in the circle for Seward, going 6 innings and allowing 5 hits and 1 earned run while striking out a pair. 

#9 SEWARD COUNTY/GLENDALE GAME ONE BOX SCORE

The Lady Saints finally got something to show for on offense in the 2^nd inning of game two of the double header, breaking a 16 inning scoring drought with RBI's from Joe Ann Rapoza, Felisha Vogelaar, and Marissa Chavez to take an early 3-0 lead on the Gauchos. 

With some confidence brewing, the Lady Saints added to their lead in the 3^rd, getting a leadoff home run from Becky Allen to go on top 4-0 and two more RBI's from Rapoza and Vogelaar to take a 6-0 lead. 

Glendale got three straight singles to start their half of the 3^rd and cashed in each of the runs, thanks in part to a Seward error to get back into the game at 6-3. 

Lady Saints starter Brittany Hopkins kept the score there into the 5^th, but the Lady Saints were unable to extend upon their lead and it would cost them later on. 

Four Gaucho hits and a Seward County error allowed three Glendale runs to score in the bottom half of the 5^th inning and just like that the Lady Saints and Gauchos were tied at 6. 

Seward's offense couldn't capitalize on a Glendale error to start their half of the 6^th as the game remained tied at 6 going to the bottom of the 6^th. 

Two more Seward County defensive errors set the table for the Gauchos in the 6^th and they took advantage by getting a one out single to score both runs to take an 8-6 lead.  Later in the inning the Lady Saints third error of the frame gave Glendale another run and Seward went to their last at bats down 9-6. 

The Lady Saints got a one out single from Vanessa Oakden in the 7^th, but they weren't able to get the tying run closer than in the on deck circle as a groundout ended their hopes and the game as Glendale hung on to win 9-6 to sweep the double header. 

Seward outhit Glendale 9-8 in game two of the twinbill but committed 7 errors, to make 13 on the day in the losses.  Oakden was 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored in the loss for Seward while Vogelaar was 2 for 4 with 2 RBI's.  Hopkins took the loss on the mound for Seward, going 5 1/3 innings, allowing 8 hits and 9 runs, 5 earned, while striking out 3. 

The losses send the Lady Saints into their first three game losing streak of the season.  #9 Seward is now 22-7 overall on the year while Glendale improves to just 14-16 as they snap a four game losing streak of their own with the victories.

Seward wraps up their Spring Break Trip on Thursday in the Phoenix, Arizona area when they go to Mesa to play the Lady T-Birds in a late afternoon double header. 

#9 SEWARD COUNTY/GLENDALE BOX SCORE