Kevin Sims
Sports Editor
The Cotton Blossom softball team beat Missouri Western
in the first game of the HSU/US Army Tournament by the score of 11-3, Friday,
Feb. 24. The mercy rule came into effect in the bottom of the sixth inning.
It took the Blossoms three innings to find a groove, but when they did Western
had no answer for their explosive bats and solid defense.
“Missouri Western is a quality program,” Head Coach Alvy Early said. “We had
trouble picking up pitches early. By the third, the batters picked it up.”
Meredith Heckel led the Blossoms offensively going 3-4 with two home runs and
knocking in five RBIs.
“I’m settling down more at the plate,” Heckel said. “With runners on base, we
executed well as a team.”
Freshman Allison North pitched a complete game, picking up her third win of
the season. She gave up three runs on six hits and had one strike out.
Western scored first when Megan Floor hit a two-run blast over the
left-center wall in the top of the first. They scored again in the third when
Lindsey Predovich hit a solo home run.
Lauren Brooks started the Blossoms' bats rolling in the bottom of the third
when she beat out a throw on an infield hit. Heckel lined a double down the
right field line to advance Brooks to third. Becca Tipton cleared the bases with
a two-out Texas leaguer over the shortstop. Tipton, 2-4 with four RBIs, scored on a Jenny Dunn
single, beating the throw home by a headfirst hook slide, tying the game at
three.
Dunn finished the day 2-3 with an RBI.
The Blossoms took the lead in the fourth when Heckel crushed a three-run home
run over left center. Tipton hit a two-run home run later in the inning giving
the Blossoms an 8-3 lead.
In the bottom of the fifth, Heckel hit her second home run of the day, a two-run
shot over left. The mercy ruled came out in the sixth when Joleah Oxner hit a
walk off single scoring Dunn from second base.
With the win, the Blossoms improve their over-all record to 8-6.
Sports Information contributed to the article.
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