Lady Saints Set Offensive Records, Then Shutout in Odd DH Split

The #11 Seward County Lady Saints put together a double header Monday that would leave many including Head Coach Andrea Gustafson scratching her head when the day was complete.  In game one of their split double header against Lake Region State and South Mountain, Seward scored an all-time school record 29 runs, including an all-time record 20 runs in the 3^rd inning of a 29-0 win over the Royals.  In their second game of the double header it was a much different result as they were shutout 2-0 and had just 2 hits in a loss to the host South Mountain Cougars. 

The Lady Saints got the honor of being the first team that the Lake Region State Softball program would ever play in their first game of their annual Spring Break trip to Phoenix, Arizona.  In the end, Seward County would leave a lasting memory in the Lady Royals heads, which for them would turn out to be a memory that they would like to forget. 

Seward starter Jaclyn Wagner struck out the side in the top half of the 1^st inning against the Lady Royals. 

The Lady Saints offense responded by giving their pitcher four runs in the bottom half of the inning, getting a two run home run from Becky Allen and a two RBI single from Felisha Vogelaar to put them up early 4-0. 

Wagner again fanned the side in the 2^nd and once again Seward was hard at it on offense in the bottom half of the inning. 

Back to back doubles by Andrea Sitter and Allen set the table for the middle of the Seward order and Pokey Ewell drove in both runners with a single to put the Lady Saints in front 6-0.  After a Lake Region error, Vanessa Oakden ignited a 2-2 pitch over the left center field wall for a three run home run to give the Lady Saints a 9-0 advantage. 

Wagner continued her dominance of the Royal bats in the 3^rd, working another 1-2-3 frame and nobody could have predicted the explosion that would happen in the bottom half of the inning. 

The Lady Saints sent 24 batters to the plate in the bottom half of the 3^rd inning, collecting 16 hits and 20 runs, all school records, while with one out in the inning 12 consecutive hitters reached base safely, another all-time mark. 

Seward leadoff hitter Marissa Chavez was 3 for 3 in the inning while Sitter and Allen both had 2 hits each in the frame. 

The Lady Saints scored their first run of the inning on a bases loaded walk to Danielle Orr and Oakden cleared the bases one batter later on a double to the wall to make it 13-0.  A single off the bat of Vogelaar and a Royal error allowed two more runs to score to make it 15-0 and an RBI double from Carmen Hughes made it a 16-0 game.  After Chavez's second hit of the inning a two RBI double from Sitter extended the lead to 18-0 and RBI singles from Allen and Lauren Salazar made it a 21-0 game.  The merry go round continued as Vogelaar drove home two with a single to extend the lead to 23-0 and a Lake Region error made it 24-0 Lady Saints.  Chavez's third hit of the inning scored Megan Armstrong to push the lead to 25-0 and later in the inning RBI hits from Allen, Joe Ann Rapoza, and Salazar made it 29-0 at innings end. 

After a nearly one hour long inning, Wagner kept her composure and worked her third straight 1-2-3 inning in the 4^th. 

Following a 20 run inning Seward didn't score in the 4^th as the score remained 29-0.

Wagner fanned the final two Royal hitters in the 5^th to finish the game in style, giving the Lady Saints a 29-0 win over Lake Region. 

The Lady Saints finished with 24 hits in the win, getting offensive contributions from 10 different hitters in the victory.  Allen was 4 for 4 in the game and accounted for 9 runs, driving in 4 and scoring 5 for the Lady Saints. Vogelaar also had 4 hits in the contest, while she drove in 4 and scored twice.  Chavez was the third Lady Saint to have 4 hits in the game, she was 4 for 5 with 3 runs scored at the top of the Seward order.  Oakden finished 2 for 5 with 6 RBI's in the win while Salazar was 2 for 2 with 4 RBI's off the Seward bench.  Lost in the offensive explosion was Wagner.  Seward's #3 pitcher went the whole way in the victory, allowing just 1 hit in her first career shutout.  She struck out 10 for the Lady Saints and retired 11 straight Lake Region hitters at one point in the game. 

The Lady Saints 29 total runs, 20 in the 3^rd inning, and 24 batters sent to the plate in the marathon 3^rd are all school records. 

#11 SEWARD COUNTY/LAKE REGION STATE BOX SCORE

If only the Lady Saints could have carried over some of those runs to game two of their split double header as they took on a sub .500 NJCAA Division II team in South Mountain. 

The game flew by at lightning speed to get things going as both teams managed just a single hit through the first two innings as the game remained scoreless. 

Seward saw just seven pitches in a 1-2-3 top half of the 3^rd inning and the Cougars took advantage of the goose egg, scoring a run in the bottom half of the frame to take a 1-0 lead. 

The Lady Saints offensive struggles continued in the 4^th as all three hitters swung at the first pitch of their at bats and were retired as South Mountain clung to a 1-0 lead. 

A two out solo home run for the Cougars in the bottom of the 4^th gave them a 2-0 lead. 

Seward was a little bit more patient in the 5^th as their first two hitters of the inning reached via walk to put the tying runs on base and bringing the go ahead run to the plate.  However, three batters later, those runners did not move and were stranded on base as Seward remained in the trail 2-0. 

Lady Saints starter Brittany Hopkins kept Seward in the game, blanking South Mountain in the 5^th and 6^th innings, but Seward simply couldn't get anything going on offense.  Twice the Lady Saints brought the tying run to the plate with two outs in the inning, but neither time they could break through and a fly out in the 7^th sealed the deal for the gals in green as South Mountain pulled off a stunning 2-0 upset of the Lady Saints. 

There were just 7 combined hits in the game by the two teams, unfortunately for Seward, only 2 of them were on their side.  Hopkins suffered the tough luck loss in the circle for the Lady Saints as she went the distance, allowing just 5 hits and 1 earned run while striking out 3. 

#11 SEWARD COUNTY/SOUTH MOUNTAIN BOX SCORE

The loss snaps a seven game win streak for the 11^th ranked Lady Saints and sets them back to 22-5 on the year.  The game was the first in program history for Lake Region as they fall to 0-1 and South Mountain improves to 15-17 on the year with the win over Seward. 

The Lady Saints will take the day off on Tuesday before returning to action on Wednesday when they travel to Glendale in the greater Phoenix area to play a double header against the Gauchos starting at 3:00 CST.