Kansas City, Mo. – Rockhurst used some timely hitting in the first game of a doubleheader and then got an outstanding pitching performance to secure a sweep of the Maryville softball team. The Hawks won the first game of the day, 5-4 in eight innings while shutting out the Saints in game two, 3-0 at Loyola Field.
After a quiet start to the first game, the Saints broke onto the scoreboard in the second as
Casey Ward singled to center field with one out. Ward was then thrown out at second on an
Emily Frankenreiter fielder's choice. Frankenreiter moved to second on a pass ball and scored on a
Kelsey Martin single to give the Saints an early 1-0 lead. The Hawks tied the game up at 1-1 in the bottom of the third, but the Saints responded in the top of the fourth as Ward drew a free pass to start the inning and moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt.
Samantha Hausl came in to pinch run for Ward and scored as Martin again singled down the left field line as the Saints grabbed a 2-1 lead.
Maryville added to their lead in the top of the fifth as
Ashley Marks singled and stole second base to start the inning. Marks moved up to third as
Alyssa Callans hit an infield single to put runners at the corners. Marks then scored on a
Nikki Taylor sacrifice fly to give the Saints a 3-1 lead and then Callans scored as Ward drilled a double down the left field line to extend the lead to 4-1.
Rockhurst battled back as they scored a run in the fifth to cut the Saints advantage to 4-2 and then put together five straight singles to score a pair of runs and tie the game at 4-4 in the seventh. After Maryville went down in order in the top of the eighth, the Hawks took advantage of a double to start the frame and then scored the winning run two batters later on a single to earn the win.
Taylor suffered the loss and fell to 8-7 on the year by going seven innings and giving up five runs on 11 hits. Martin paced the Saints offense by going 2-for-3 with a pair of runs batted in while Callans and Ward each chipped in with two hits on the game.
Rockhurst (19-15, 8-2 GLVC) opened the second game of the day by scoring three runs in the first inning and that proved to be enough as Bridgette Sappington tossed a perfect game against to the Saints to earn a 3-0 victory. The gem was the first ever perfect game in Rockhurst softball history.
Sheridon Sprague gave up three runs on six hits in the loss which dropped her to 2-7 on the year while Maryville fell to 14-16 on the season and 4-6 in GLVC action.
Maryville returns to action tomorrow afternoon in Liberty, Mo. as the Saints take on William Jewell College. The doubleheader is set to start at noon.
