Lopers Split with Pitt State; Two More Road Trips Up Next
Kearney, Neb. – Sophomore Sydney Thomason threw a complete game seven-hit shut out to help Nebraska-Kearney beat Pittsburg State, 2-0, Sunday afternoon at Patriot Park. The Gorillas (22-12, 7-5) won the first game, 8-2, thanks to a seven-hit complete game by junior southpaw Hannah Harrison and three big innings. With the win in the nightcap, UNK moves to 13-21 (4-6) and stops an eight-game skid. "Sydney wants the ball in her hand and it a true grinder. She loves to win so much and is currently battling some arm issues," said Loper head coach Katie Ackermann. "But we still put the ball in her hand and she manages to go out and gives us a seven-inning shut-out. Pretty proud of her and what she does for our team." Thomason (Ripon, Calif.) improved to 7-4 by fanning four and walking one. She threw 108 pitches and saw the Gorillas ground out 12 times. Thomason leads UNK in wins, complete games (four), and earned run average (2.86) while ranking second in K's with 54 in 66.0 innings. "Our defense finally picked us up in game two. The ball was in play (12 ground outs, six fly outs) and our defense did its job, something that didn't happen in game one," said Ackermann. Blair senior catcher Katie Gosker (1 for 3) had a two-out RBI double in the first with Colorado sophomore Jaiden Harteker (2 for 3) having a two-out RBI single in the third. On both occasions Kearney super senior third baseman Avery Wood (2 for 2) scored. Pitt stranded nine in the setback, stranding two in three different innings. Seven different players had a hit with Liili Weir fanning three in a two-inning relief appearance. "We went from 20 strikeouts on Saturday to nine today. We had better approaches at the plate, we swung at pitches in the zone and for KG, she kind of went into a slump of swing and miss. Earlier this year, she was seeing it so well that she started to swing out of her shoes a little bit," said Ackermann. "Overall, we found a way to piece some things together and score some runs." Harrison (11-4) amassed 132 pitches in game one. She worked around seven hits and three walks by getting 11 ground outs and fanning two. UNK cut into a 3-0 deficit with a two-run third but then didn't cross home plate the rest oft eh way. The Gorillas took advantage of four hit batters, two wild pitches and two errors to reach their run tally. They also had two steals, including one of home. Sophomore right fielder Sophia Driver (2 for 4, one run & three RBI's) and freshman left fielder Heather Arnett (2 for 5, one run) led the way. Lincoln sophomore right fielder Lyndsey Roth (2 for 3, one RBI) and Wahoo freshman second baseman Mary Chvatal (2 for 3, one run) paced the UNK offense with California freshman Faith Gaynor allowing just one earned run over the final 3.2 innings. The Lopers have back-to-back road trips up next, first visiting Emporia State and nationally-ranked Washburn.
Listen to the game here.
Opmerkingen