Lady Saints Sweep El Paso to Begin 2017 Campaign

The Seward County Lady Saints made short work of the El Paso Tejanas Friday afternoon on the Texas/Mexico border, sweeping their way to a doubleheader sweep with 13-1 and 12-3 run rule victories to open their 2017 season 2-0. 

It didn't take long for the Lady Saints to get things going in game one of the twinbill as Maycee Koontz doubled home a pair in the 2^nd inning and Kristyna Garcia followed that up with a two run double of her own to push Seward out to a 4-0 lead.  They weren't done yet though in the 2^nd as Jullian Atteberry blasted a two run double of her own to make it 6-0 and Seward tacked on two more later in the frame to finish off an eight run inning to go in front 8-0. 

Lady Saints starter Monique Ashley throwing in her first career game, breezed through the Tejanas lineup 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 2^nd and Seward added two more in the top of the 3^rd on a home run from Garcia to make it 10-0. 

Seward added another run in the top of the 4^th and El Paso got their only tally of the game in the bottom half to make it 11-1 and the Lady Saints put up a pair of insurance runs in the 5^th to finish the Tejanas off 13-1 for a run rule win. 

The Lady Saints needed just 10 hits for their 13 runs as they took advantage of eight walks and six El Paso errors.  Garcia powered the Seward offense with a pair of hits and four RBI's in the win while Atteberry had two hits and two RBI's in her Lady Saints debut.  Ashley earned the win in the circle, coasting through five innings, allowing just two hits and one run while striking out seven to collect her first career victory.

SEWARD COUNTY/EL PASO GAME ONE BOX SCORE

Seward again jumped on the Tejanas early in game two as Leena Mortensen drove home a run with an RBI single and Koontz scored on a passed ball to give the Lady Saints a 2-0 lead in the 1^st. 

The Lady Saints added another tally in the 2^nd on a sac fly from Koontz to make it 3-0 and a two run home run from Kaitlin Ammermann made it 5-0 Seward after three.

Taylor Kathler doubled to lead off the 4^th for Seward and it would start a big frame for the gals in green.  Kathler later scored on an RBI single from Koontz and another RBI single from Sydney Epp made it an 8-0 game.  Atteberry then launched a double to the wall in center to plate two more and she scored on a single from Sage Harrison later in the inning giving the Lady Saints a commanding 11-0 lead after 3 ½.

Seward starter Ruby Gonzalez kept El Paso off the board once again in the bottom of the 4^th and Lexi Manyik popped a solo home run to start the Lady Saints 5^th to make it a 12-0 game. 

El Paso finally broke through with three runs in the bottom of the 5^th, but it was two less than they needed to keep the game going as Seward sewed up a 12-3 run rule win to sweep the doubleheader. 

The Lady Saints bashed out 15 hits in the five inning win, getting at least one hit from all nine players in the starting lineup.  Mortensen and Epp each had three hits in the win while four different Lady Saints including Epp had multi-RBI games.  Gonzalez earned the win on the rubber for Seward, going the distance while allowing three hits and three runs to pick up her first collegiate victory.

SEWARD COUNTY/EL PASO GAME TWO BOX SCORE

Seward begins their 2017 campaign 2-0 while El Paso remains winless at 0-7.

The two will hook up one more time on Saturday afternoon in El Paso before the Lady Saints wrap up their swing to the border with a battle against McCook.