Tuesday
The #4 ranked Saint Xavier softball team played a doubleheader against Purdue University-North Central. The Cougars had great pitching and some timely offense en route to a sweep of their conference foe.
The game started as a pitchers duel as both pitchers held down the other team’s offense until the bottom of the second inning, where the Cougars would score a run, off of a RBI single by right fielder Kasey Kanaga, to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead.
The game would go back to being a pitchers duel as both pitchers would once again hold each other’s offense down until the bottom of the fourth inning.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Cougars’ offense came to life, scoring four runs, thanks in large part to a two run home run by shortstop Rebeka Ferguson, to extend their lead to 5-0.
After a scoreless top of the fifth by the Panthers, the Cougars would score two runs in the bottom of the fifth to push their lead to 7-0. The two runs came off of one swing, a two RBI double by catcher Jessica Arebalo.
That would be the last time that either team would score, allowing the Cougars to win game one easily and look forward to game two of the doubleheader.
The second game started out well for the Cougars as they would hold their opponents scoreless in the top half, while scoring two runs in the bottom of the first to take a 2-0 lead. The first run of the game was scored on a sacrifice bunt from first baseman Amanda Hainlen.
The second run was scored off of an error by Purdue-North Central. After pitching another scoreless inning, the Cougars would score another run in the bottom of the second to push their lead to 3-0. The run was scored on an RBI single by third baseman Franchesca Graffeo.
Purdue-North Central would answer in the top half of the third inning, scoring a run, despite not collecting a hit, to cut down the Cougars’ lead to 3-1. The Cougars would respond to their opponent’s score with one of their own in the bottom of the third inning to push their lead to 4-1.
The run was scored thanks to another RBI single by Graffeo. From there, the game would turn into a pitchers duel as neither team would score another run for the remainder of the game.
There were times when both pitchers seemed like they were about to give up a run, but neither gave in as they both made the pitches to overcome the tough situations that were put in front of them.
The Cougars would win this game 4-1 and complete the sweep. Both starting pitchers for the Cougars had dominant showings in the doubleheader.
In game one, Nicole Nonnemacher pitched a complete game shutout while allowing only one hit, one walk, and recording 15 strikeouts in the game. She also collected her 10th win of the season.
Callie Brown also pitched a complete game, giving up one unearned run while giving up seven hits and striking out three batters to record her 10th win of the season.
With the sweep, the Cougars record moved to 21-2-1 with a perfect conference record of 6-0-0.
Friday
The softball team played against William Penn University. The Cougars dominated their opposition in both games thanks to two shutouts by their pitchers.
The Cougars’ offense looked ready to play from the get-go, scoring two runs on three hits to take an early 2-0 lead. The two runs were scored off an RBI double by shortstop Rebeka Ferguson and catcher Jessica Arebalo.
On top of this fast start for the Cougars, starting pitcher Nicole Nonnemacher was once again locked in, shutting down William Penn’s offense the entire game.
In the top of the fourth inning, the Cougars would score two runs on two hits and a William Penn error to a 4-0 lead. The two runs were scored on an error by William Penn and an RBI double by third baseman Franchesca Graffeo.
In the top of the fifth the Cougars offense would put the game away, scoring four runs on three hits and an error by William Penn to go up 8-0 in the game. The big hit of the inning came off the bat of center fielder Shannon Lauret when she hit a three run home run in the inning.
The Cougars would win this game by slaughter rule in the fifth inning with a score of 8-0.
In the second game of the doubleheader, the Cougars once again started out on fire, scoring three runs in the second inning to take a 3-0 lead. First baseman Amanda Hainlen started the scoring with a solo home run.
From there, the game would turn into a pitchers duel as neither team could score a run until the top of the fifth inning. In the top of the fifth inning, the Cougars would score two runs off of another home run by Hainlen, giving them a 5-0 lead.
In the top of the sixth inning, the Cougars would once again score two runs thanks to an RBI fielder’s choice and a sac fly by Arebalo. Those two runs would prove to be the bail in the coffin as William Penn could not score a run in the second game as well, losing the game 7-0.
Both starting pitchers were masterful in this game. In game one, Nonnemacher pitched her sixth complete game shutout, giving up only one hit and one walk while striking out 12 batters.
Callie Brown also pitched a complete game shutout and giving up four hits and collecting three strikeouts.
Both pitchers recorded their eleventh wins of the season. The Cougars offense was on fire in this doubleheader, collecting seven doubles and three home runs over the course of the doubleheader.
With the win, the Cougars record moved to 23-2-1 with a conference record of 6-0-0.
Saturday
The Cougars played Grand View University in a doubleheader. For the first time in weeks, the Cougars lost a game. How did they respond? They would win the second game of their doubleheader by slaughter rule.
In game one of the doubleheader, the Cougars would be the first team to score in this game as catcher Jessica Arebalo would lead off the top of the second inning with a solo home run to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead.
Both starting pitchers looked to be in control despite the early home run given up by Grand View. In fact, Cougars pitcher Nicole Nonnemacher looked like she was on her way to a perfect game.
Unfortunately, no one got to see a perfect game as Nonnemacher would give up a solo home run to Grand View to end the perfect game bid and tie the game at 1-1.
Unlike most games the Cougars have played this season, the offense was not able to support their starters’ tremendous effort in this game as they just could not seem to get their bats to work for them.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Vikings would win in walk-off fashion with a sacrifice fielder’s choice to win the game 2-1 and to end the Cougars’ 13 game winning streak. After their first loss in a long time, it was interesting to see how they would respond in the second game.
Their response to their loss: come back out and completely dominate their opponents. They did just that, scoring early and often while holding the Vikings’ offense down.
The first inning saw the Cougars score three runs to take an early 3-0 lead. The three runs came off a two run RBI double by Arebalo and an RBI single by Megan James. In the second inning, the Cougars would score another three runs, thanks to one hit and an error by the Vikings, to push their lead 6-0.
In the top of the third, the Cougars would score one run on one hit, but it was a big one as shortstop Rebeka Ferguson hit a solo home run to give the Cougars a 7-0 lead. Grand View would answer in the bottom of the third to eliminate the shutout possibility, scoring one run off a home run to cut the Cougars’ lead to 7-1.
The Cougars would answer the Vikings’ home run with one of their own as second baseman Savannah Kinsella hit a two run home run in the top of the fourth to make their lead grow to 9-1.
After forcing another scoreless inning in the bottom of the bottom of the fourth, the Cougars would end any hope the Vikings had of coming back, scoring six runs while collecting five hits in the inning to extend their lead to 15-1.
The big hit of the inning came off a home run by first baseman Amanda Hainlen, which was a three run home run.
The Cougars would mercifully end this game by shutting out Grand View in the bottom of the fifth inning to win the game by the aforementioned score.
The Cougars offense was the driving force behind this win as they collected 11 hits in 30 at bats for a robust team batting average of .366. The Cougars also found their power stroke in this game as they had three home runs in the game.
With the split, the Cougars record stands at 24-3-1 with a conference record of 6-0-0. The Cougars will get back to conference play on Tuesday, April 7, in a doubleheader against Purdue University-Calumet.
John Romando
Senior Sports Editor
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