Jefferson City, Mo. –
Nikki Taylor and
Alyssa Callans were a lethal one-two punch as the Maryville softball team earned a double header sweep of Lincoln University, 7-4 and 3-0 Saturday afternoon in Jefferson City, Mo.
The Saints broke onto the scoreboard in the first inning as
Sydney Halleen stroked a double to left center field and then scored on a Taylor fly out to give Maryville an early 1-0 lead. The Blue Tigers answered with three runs of their own in the bottom of the first to grab a 3-1 advantage. Taylor ignited the Saints in the third inning with a double that scored a pair of runs to knot the contest up at 3-3. After Lincoln regained the lead in the home half of the third, Maryville grabbed the lead for good in the top of the fifth inning.
Courtney Ferguson drew a one out walk and then stole second base. Halleen drove her in with another double to center field to tie the game at 4-4. Taylor then used the long ball as she smashed a two-run shot to score Halleen and give the Saints a 6-4 advantage. Maryville pushed across an insurance run as
Bri Livingston singled and scored
Samantha Hausl to give the Saints a 7-4 lead.
Taylor earned her third win of the season by going the distance and striking out five Blue Tigers while going 3-for-3 at the plate and driving in five of the Saints seven runs. Halleen aided the Saints offense by going 3-for 4 at the plate and scoring three runs.
Callans twirled a gem in the second game of the day as she was perfect through 6.1 innings before the Blue Tigers put their first runner on via a single with one out in the seventh. Callans grabbed her second win of the year with a one-hitter while recording eight strike-outs on the afternoon.
The Maryville offense did their part as
Ashley Marks gave the Saints a 1-0 lead in the first inning with an RBI single that scored Ferguson from third base. Ferguson scored another run in the third as Halleen pushed her across on a single to the right side to give Maryville a 2-0 lead. The Saints scratched across an insurance run in the fourth as Livingston scored on a
Kelsey Martin fly ball to give Maryville a 3-0 advantage.
Ferguson paced the Saints offense with a 2-for-4 day at the dish while scoring a pair of runs as Maryville backed up Callans outstanding pitching performance with 10 hits.
Maryville returns home to Weber Field on Sunday to take on Washburn in a double header with the first game set to start at noon.
