SURPRISE, ARIZ. – It was a rough GSAC-opening doubleheader for OUAZ softball on Friday, as they were swept by Menlo. The Spirit did not have to wait long to get back on the field, as they hosted William Jessup on Saturday afternoon.
Game 1 – OUAZ 2, WJU 0
The Spirit struggled again to get runners across the plate, but only needed two as
Bailey Coronado pitched an exceptional game. She went the distance, striking out eight batters while only allowing four total baserunners (two hits, two walks) for her third win of the season.
Coronado gave up a leadoff single to Natalie Basaldua to start the fourth inning, and locked in from there. She did not give up a hit after that point, and retired 12 of the next 13 batters. The only person to reach base in that stretch was Basaldua, who walked with two outs in the top of the sixth.
While OUAZ had a hard time getting runs, they did get plenty of baserunners. The Spirit had eight hits, a walk and two players reach via the error.
Andraya Rhinehart and
Avery Bohn led the way with two hits each, and they were two of the six different players to record a hit in the OUAZ lineup.
Kelly Stumper brought in both of the OUAZ runs, but was credited with one RBI. Her groundout in the third brought in Rhinehart, and Stumper reached on an error by the second baseman Maddy Melo that saw Rhinehart come around once more.
Game 2 – WJU 6, OUAZ 5
One big inning cost the Spirit a chance for the series sweep, as the Warriors scored four of its six runs in the top of the third. After taking the lead in the top of the first thanks to a solo home run from Mehana Johns, the Spirit's
Briana Tucker answered with one of her own in the bottom of the second.
The next half inning started with Kayla Altheide reaching via an error, and she came around to score two hits later as Hailey Hiett singled to give William Jessup a 2-1 lead. The Warriors got two more RBIs from Johns and another one from Basaldua before OUAZ's
Alexandra McCutcheon came in to record the final out.
The Spirit were able to get two of those runs back in the bottom half of the third courtesy of a Stumper single, and
Katelyn Chambers scored as the Warriors threw out Stumper trying to steal second. OUAZ had ample opportunities to chip away at the lead, as they had at least one baserunner in the last four innings, but double plays killed any rally. Despite scoring two in the bottom of the seventh, Chambers ripped one at the third baseman Basaldua who caught the ball before inches before it hit the ground, and doubled off Rhinehart at first to wrap up the Warriors first conference win of the season.
McCutcheon was great in relief, allowing only one run in the final 4.2 innings after taking over for
Phoebe Popplewell. McCutcheon navigated traffic well, as she did allow seven hits and a walk, but did strike out three batters.
While it was tough for the Spirit to score runs, they had eight players record a hit. They got two-hit games from Chambers and
Samantha Miller, plus the team saw the ball well, striking out only once.
The Spirit get a chance to improve its early conference record as they travel to Southern California next week. They will take on Hope International in a doubleheader on Friday, and then face Vanguard on Saturday.
