Masterful Pitching Leads Lady Saints to Sweep

At this point in time you can more less call the Seward County Lady Saints top two pitchers 1A and 1B and Alexa O'Brien and Jaclyn Wagner proved that again on Tuesday, stymying the Colby bats in the other dugout for 14 innings as Seward swept the doubleheader with the Lady Trojans 2-0 and 6-1 to improve to 6-2 in Jayhawk West Conference play. 

Alexa O'Brien was in control for Seward in the circle early on in game one against the Lady Trojans.  The freshman righthander struck out six of the first seven hitters she saw and the Lady Saints offense rewarded her with a pair of runs in the bottom of the 2^nd inning to put Seward on top 2-0. 

O'Brien worked around a couple of misplayed balls by her defense in the top half of the 3^rd and threw up zero's on the Trojans again in the 4^th and 5^th innings to keep it a 2-0 game in favor of the Lady Saints. 

Seward's offense couldn't muster much more though as Colby starter Mara Nash got into a groove as well, keeping the Lady Saints without a run through the middle innings as the game flew to the 6^th with the score still 2-0. 

O'Brien worked herself into a little bit of a pickle in the 6^th, walking two Colby hitters, but she came up big when it counted most, striking a pinch hitter out on three pitches to end the inning and the threat to keep Seward on top 2-0. 

The Lady Saints couldn't get O'Brien any insurance runs in the bottom half of the inning, but she didn't need it, blowing through the Colby bats on just nine pitches in the top half of the 7^th to preserve her shutout and preserve the 2-0 win for Seward. 

O'Brien was solid in the circle for Seward, allowing just 3 hits, all singles in her second Jayhawk West shutout of the year.  She walked 3 Trojan hitters and struck out 7 to improve to 9-6 on the year.  Seward's offense wasn't great as they managed just 5 hits in the victory.  The Lady Saints got a 2 for 2 day from Joe Ann Rapoza and saw Vanessa Oakden reach twice on walks and score a run in the win. 

SEWARD COUNTY/COLBY GAME ONE BOX SCORE

Game two was a lot like game one early on with offense tough to come by.  This time it was Jaclyn Wagner limiting the Trojan opportunities on the mound for the Lady Saints, holding Colby to just one baserunner in the first three innings of action to keep it a scoreless game as Seward came to hit in the 3^rd frame. 

The Lady Saints got the game's first run in the bottom of the 3^rd, using a one out single from Danielle Orr and a Colby error to take a 1-0 lead on the Trojans. 

Wagner remained locked in, breezing through the Colby bats in the 4^th 1-2-3 and working around a two out walk in the 5^th to keep it a 1-0 game in favor of the Lady Saints. 

The Lady Saints finally showed some life offensively in the 5^th as Kolby Hamilton ripped a line drive single up the middle to score a run and Grace Petersen blooped a single in behind her for another run to make it 3-0 Seward.  The gals in green weren't done yet as Oakden stepped to the plate and hammered a 1-0 pitch way over the wall in left for a three run home run to all of a sudden blow the game open to 6-0. 

Wagner was as good as ever in the top of the 6^th, striking out the side on just 12 pitches to keep it a 6-0 game. 

Cruising to the 7^th without allowing a single hit in the game, Wagner's second no-hit bid of the season was quickly shattered as the inning began with a first pitch double followed by a single and then a sac fly to give Colby their first run of the day, but that is all Wagner allowed as she shut the door and chalked up the 6-1 win for the Lady Saints. 

Wagner allowed just 2 hits in the victory, giving Colby a grand total of 5 on the day.  She allowed 1 run while striking out 6 for Seward to improve to 10-5 on the year.  The Lady Saints had 9 hits on the offensive side in the victory, getting a 3 for 3 game with 3 RBI's from Oakden and a 2 for 4 effort from Jaidyn Mawhinney at the top of the lineup. 

SEWARD COUNTY/COLBY GAME TWO BOX SCORE

Seward improves to 19-13 on the year with the sweep and now sits atop the Jayhawk West standings with a 6-2 record.  Colby drops back to 16-15 on the year and .500 in West action at 5-5. 

The Lady Saints busy schedule continues on Thursday when they travel to Pratt for another Jayhawk West doubleheader against the Beavers starting at 2:00.  Seward returns home on Saturday when they host Southeast at 2:00 and 4:00 at Lady Saints Field in Liberal.