Lady Saints Outhit, But Can't Outscore Cougars

In their second doubleheader of their annual Spring Break trip to Phoenix, Arizona, the Seward County Lady Saints outhit the host South Mountain 16-11, but in the end it was the Cougars getting the last laugh, beating Seward 7-3 and 5-1 in the twinbill to drop the Lady Saints to 17-11 on the year. 

Seward had a chance to score early against the Cougars, putting two on in the 1^st with nobody out, but they were unable to mount anything further with the middle of their lineup and it would come back to haunt them later in the game. 

South Mountain got the scoring started in the bottom of the 3^rd inning, using a double, a Seward error, and a three run home run to go in front of the Lady Saints 3-0. 

The Lady Saints struck right back, scoring twice in their next at bats, getting three straight singles before the big blow came off the bat of Tiffany Bolanos with a two RBI single to cut the South Mountain lead to one at 3-2. 

A pair of walks from Seward starting pitcher Alexa O'Brien hurt her cause in the 4^th as South Mountain went on to score three times in the bottom half of the 4^th inning to open their lead back up to 6-2. 

Seward stole a run back in the 5^th on a double steal and an error by the Cougars to make it 6-3, but that would be all that they would get as the Lady Saints managed just one hit in the final two innings of the game while South Mountain added an insurance run in the 6^th to go on to win 7-3. 

The Lady Saints outhit South Mountain 10-5 in the game, but the Cougars were helped by four Seward walks, a hit batter, and two errors in the victory.  Eight of nine Seward starters had hits in the game including Bolanos who was 2 for 3 and Kolby Hamilton who was 2 for 4 in the loss.  O'Brien took the loss in the circle to fall to 8-5 on the year.  She allowed 5 hits and 5 earned runs while walking 4 and striking out 7. 

SEWARD COUNTY/SOUTH MOUNTAIN GAME ONE BOX SCORE

Once again the Lady Saints had early chances in game two of the doubleheader and once again, they couldn't come through.  Seward put their first two hitters of the 1^st inning on base and were unable to score and had two more baserunners in the 2^nd without pushing a run across to keep the game scoreless into the 3^rd. 

Lady Saints starter Jaclyn Wagner was on point for Seward in the circle, retiring 15 straight Cougar hitters after the first batter of the game for South Mountain reached on an error. 

Unfortunately for the gals in green, their offense couldn't muster anything  In fact, in a stretch from the bottom of the 2^nd through the top of the 6^th inning, Wagner and South Mountain pitcher Kylie Weigl combined to sit down 24 hitters in a row, making the game swiftly move to the bottom of the 6^th still scoreless.

After all of the domination in the circle by Wagner, all of a sudden the South Mountain bats came alive.  Wagner's no-hit bid was broken up to start the inning and the Cougars would put five of their first six hitters of the inning on base, also breaking up the shutout attempt as they went ahead 4-0.  With two outs they kept it going, getting back to back singles to score another run to take a 5-0 lead on the Lady Saints. 

Seward finally showed some life offensively in the 7^th, getting a leadoff double by Bolanos and a bunt single by Joe Ann Rapoza to put runners on the corners with nobody out, but they managed just one run in the inning and fell quietly to the Cougars in game two 5-1. 

Both teams had 6 hits in the contest, Seward getting a pair from Kennedy Brunson who also had the Lady Saints only RBI in the game.  Wagner ended up taking the loss after the rough 6^th, allowing 6 hits and 5 runs, all in the 6^th inning, while striking out 4 in the game to drop to 9-4 on the year. 

SEWARD COUNTY/SOUTH MOUNTAIN GAME TWO BOX SCORE

The Lady Saints drop to 17-11 on the year with the two losses while South Mountain improves to 22-15.  Things won't get any easier for Seward on Friday as they wrap up their trip with a twinbill against 4^th ranked and 26-4 Phoenix College at 2:00.