TUCSON, AZ (PCSaints.com) – The Lady Saints dropped today’s game against No. 7 Indiana Wesleyan 9-5, while playing probably their best game so far this season. With the loss, the Saints drop to 1-12 on the season.
How It Happened – The Saints began the game with a three up three down against the Wildcats of Indiana Wesleyan. The game was broke open in the top of the second after a few walked batters by pitcher Darrian Gibson (JR/Box Elder, SD) (JR/Box Elder, SD), followed by a triple to put the Wildcats up by the four. In the bottom of the second, the Lady Saints were able to rally in a few runs that started with a single to left center by Darrian Gibson. Skye Carter (FR/Sacramento, CA)(FR/Sacramento, CA) doubled to right field placing runners in scoring position for Bibiana Villeda (SO/Lake Elsinore, CA) (SO/Lake Elsinore, CA) to try and bring in. Bibiana singled to shallow right, and that was enough to bring around both Darrian and Skye to close the score line 2-4. The Saints made a lot of defensive changes on the afternoon. Bibiana moved back to the circle to pitch for the Saints. In the bottom of the third inning, the Saints had a few struggles after allowing a three-run home run with no outs to fall behind 2-7. The Lady Saints would hold the Wildcats scoreless in the top of the fourth inning while scoring one of their own off the bat of Cortni Mendoza(SR/Brawley, CA) (SR/Brawley, CA) with a single up the middle allowing Jadwyn Parrish(SO/Oregon City, OR) (SO/Oregon City, OR) to trot home. The Saints found a little burst of energy when Sierra Kilmer (FR/Vancouver, WA) (FR/Vancouver, WA) hit her first homerun of the season over the left-center field fence on a 2-0 count, to narrow the score line to 5-7. The Lady Saints would not be able to tally any more runs in the game and dropped their twelfth game of the year.
After the game, head coach Mari Jordan had a few words on how the game went. “Today was a challenge from the beginning; Indiana Wesleyan is ranked very high in the NAIA Softball polls, at No. 7”. “I believe that we can compete against any team in the NAIA. We struggled a little bit in the beginning, but settled in nicely as the game went on. The pushes at the end were electric to watch, but not enough to get the job done. We will have the heart and drive to get the next ones,” she added.
Looking Ahead – The Saints are back in action tomorrow with a double-header against the University of Jamestown and Madonna University. Game times (MST) are scheduled for 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. respectively