TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Pittsburg State softball team improved to 20-10 on the season with a doubleheader sweep of Washburn on Saturday (March 28) afternooon. Pitt State took game one, 3-1, and fought hard for a 5-4, 8-inning win in game two.
Emmie Robertson earned the win in the pitching circle in both games. She allowed only five base runners in the first game, giving up only one run on three hits. She struck out eight and walked one. In game two, Robertson came in in relief of Lynsey Conner with two outs in the third. In the remaining 5.1 innings, she gave up one run on five hits, striking out three and walking one. She is now 13-5 on the season.
Offense was a total team effort in both games, as all nine hitters in the lineup had at least one hit on the day. The Gorillas first three hitters, Ashton Pratt, Katy Remy anrod Cheslyn Mitchell, each had two hits in the first game, but the RBIs were provided by Nicole Nease, Kylie Guthier and Jordan Bradshaw. Nease and Bradshaw each added two RBI in game two, including the game winning hit in the top of the eighth by Bradshaw. Devon McCreath put together a 3-for-4 performance in game two with a run scored and on RBI.
Washburn scored first in game one with a one out, solo home run in the bottom of the first.
Pitt State tied the game in the top of the following inning. Alex Perez led off the inning with a base hit up the middle. Catie Cummins added a one out base hit to right to move Perez into scoring position. A wild pitch put Perez at third, setting up a Bradshaw sacrifice fly to tie the game.
Back-to-back base hits by Remy and Mitchell and a Nease walk loaded the bases for Guthier in the third. Guthier drove a base hit to left to put Pitt State up 2-1.
The final run of the game came in the fourth. With one out, Pratt smacked a base hit down the third base line. Remy reached on a Washburn error and Mitchell added a bas ehit up the middle to load the bases. Pratt came home on a Nease sacrifice fly for the 3-1 lead.
All of the scoring in the second game was done in two innings, the third and the eighth.
In Pitt State half of the third, Cheslyn Mitchell reached on a Washburn error. Nease drove a home run to right for a 2-0 Gorilla lead. Alex Perez started a two-out rally with a base hit through the left side. She moved to second on a wild pitch, then came home as McCreath drove a hit down the right line.
Two hits, a Pitt State error, a walk and a sacrifice fly brought in three runs to tie the game 3-3. With the bases loaded and two outs in the inning, Robertson came in to replace Conner and Pratt made a great catch in right center field to end the inning. That was just one of three times in the game the Gorilla defense was able to work themselves out of a bases loaded situation without anymore runs scoring. It also happened in the first inning and the fifth inning.
The Gorillas had two base runners on in the fourth, but didn't get on base again until the eighth inning. Perez drew a one out walk to get her team started. McCreath drove a base hit up the middle and Cummins walked to load the bases. Bradshaw knocked a double to left field two bring home two runs for the 5-3 lead.
The Ichabods led off their half of the eighth with back-to-back base hits. Robertson struck out the next batter and forced a fly out to Mitchell in left for two outs. Another base hit brought in a run, but Robertson struck out the next batter to end the inning and the game.
Washburn out hit the Gorillas in the game 10-7, but left 13 runners on base.
Pitt State will have almost a week off before traveling east to face Lindenwood on Friday (April 3) at noon and 2 p.m. and Lincoln on Saturday (April 4), also at noon and 2 p.m. The team has only six more games on the road before returning home to wrap up the season with 14 consecutive home games.
