Lady Saints in good position for late season push

LIBERAL, Kan. – Lady Saints softball is coming off four straight victories with two wins over Otero Junior College and two wins over Northwest Kansas Tech. Seward County now sits in 6^th place in the KJCCC at 10-14 in league play with an overall record of 18-24. The Lady Saints sit two games back from Dodge City with 8 conference games still to play.

Game One vs. Otero

Seward County was able to get out to a quick 1-0 lead in the 1^st inning after an Avery Ragsdale sacrifice fly scored starting pitcher Aaliyah Gutierrez. The Saints would take that 1-0 advantage into the third inning before either of the team's bats started to come alive. Otero was then able to knock across three runs in the top of the third inning after an RBI double and a 2-run homerun, and the next inning saw the Rattlers homer again to swell their lead.

Going into the bottom of the fourth inning the Lady Saints were down 5-1. The Lady Saints were able to shrink the lead in the bottom half after a Lana Pigeon RBI single that scored Marisela Landa, but the Rattlers struck right back with a run of their own in the top of the 5^th inning. The Lady Saints added two more runs in the 5^th inning thanks to another Pigeon RBI single and an RBI walk drawn by Alexsis Hernandez.

With two outs in the top of the 6^th inning, Seward County went to the bullpen and Corina McClure came in to pitch after Aaliyah Gutierrez went 5.2 innings while allowing 7 hits, 5 earned runs and striking out one. The Lady Saints came to the plate trailing 6-4 in the 6^th inning with the top of the order due up. Seward County was able to load the bases for Marisela Land and she was able to capitalize and crushed a ball over the fence, giving the Lady Saints the final lead of the game as they would go on to win 8-6 over the Rattlers.

Corina McClure was your winning pitcher having gone 1.1 innings while allowing no hits and striking out one hitter.

Game Two vs. Otero

Game two saw much of the same fight out of both teams as it was another game decided in the final moments. Natalia Sewell got her first start on the mound after coming back from injury that had sidelined her since March 17^th. Sewell received a 3-0 cushion to start the second inning after the Lady Saints recorded 4 straight first inning hits with 2 of the four runs coming on RBI doubles by Avery Ragsdale and Marisela Landa.

The Lady Saints were able to hold this 3-0 lead until the top of the fourth inning when the Rattlers tallied two runs only to be outdone in the next half inning when Seward County scored 3 more runs. Corina McClure started the bottom of the 4^th inning off with a double and came around to score on an RBI single from Aaliyah Gutierrez. The other two runs in the inning were added when Marisela Landa recorded a two-RBI single scoring Gutierrez and Ashanti Thompson. The Lady Saints held a 6-2 lead to start the 5^th inning.

Otero would fight back and score three runs in the 5^th inning to shrink the lead and would then go on to tie the game at 6 all in the 6^th inning. The game would stay deadlocked at 6 runs through the 7^th inning, so the game headed into extra innings. Otero would score one run in the top of the 8^th inning. Seward County was trailing 7-6 going into the last of the 8^th, but they would use some magic and tie the game up after an RBI single by Ragsdale scored Aaliyah Gutierrez who had moved to third on an infield single. The Lady Saints would then walk it off after Samantha Gomez reached base on an infield single, scoring Ashanti Thompson. Ashanti Thompson not only scored the winning run but was recorded as the winning pitcher after going 3.1 innings only allowing 1 hit while striking one batter out.

Game One vs. NWKT

Next up on the midweek schedule for the Lady Saints was the Mavericks from Northwest Kansas Tech. In game one Aaliyah Gutierrez got the start on the mound and went 5 innings while only allowing 2 hits and striking out four Mavericks.

Gutierrez got some early help when her offensive counterparts scored one run in the 1^st inning and then scored 5 runs in the third inning. The Lady Saints manufactured these runs by being disciplined at the plate, drawing 2 walks, 1 HBP and recording three singles to methodically grow the lead to 6-0 in Seward's advantage.

The Lady Saints would then go on to score at least one run in the next three innings and were able to stifle the bats of the Mavericks. Seward County run ruled Northwest Kansas Tech in the bottom of the 6^th inning after scoring two runs to make the final score 10-2 in favor of the Lady Saints. On the day, Lady Saint hitters recorded 6 hits, walked 5 times, and did not strike out. Aaliyah Gutierrez was your winning pitcher, improving her record to 4-9 on the year.

Game Two vs. NWKT

Game two against the Mavericks saw much of the same offensive discipline on display for the Lady Saints. In the first inning the Lady Saints once again jumped out to a 1-0 lead over the Mavericks after an Ashanti Thompson RBI single that scored Gutierrez. Seward County would grow the lead with four more runs in the second inning.

The Lady Saints would grow the lead to 10-0 over the Mavericks to start the 5^th inning. The Mavericks were able to get three runs across in the inning to extend the game and avoid another run-rule. However, those three runs would be the only runs the Mavericks would score the rest of the way and the Lady Saints went on to win game two 10-3.

Corina McClure was the Lady Saints winning pitcher after going 4 innings while only allowing two hits and striking out 3 Maverick hitters. During the game the Lady Saints hit safely 10 times and reached base via the walk 4 more times.

The Lady Saints have won 5 out of their last 6, and on this 4-game win streak the Lady Saints have out scored their opponents 36-18. Seward County will look to extend this win streak on Saturday, April 15^th when they will travel to Garden City to play two games against the Broncbusters. Action will start at 12 p.m. CT.