Douglas softball sweeps St. Francis

In the bottom of the 11th inning, it was Douglas' No. 11 that stepped up and ended the game.

After a nearly three-hour non-conference game against St. Francis, Calif., Douglas catcher Valerie Smith knocked the first pitch she saw deep over the left-field fence for a two-run walk off home run to give the Tigers a 4-2 victory.

"I was just going for a base hit and accidents happen sometimes," Smith said with a laugh.

The ball stayed fair by a couple feet, but it was still almost too close for Douglas head coach Todd Wilcks.

"We haven't put up our foul poles yet," Wilcks said. "My first thought when the ball came off the bat was, 'Oh my God, we don't have a foul pole,' but there was no doubt about that one."

Douglas fought back in the bottom of the eighth inning down 2-1 with a Kaycee Wilcks double, a Kristy Olsen sacrifice bunt and a Brittany Puzey single to tie the game up.

"We just kept battling and battling," Todd Wilcks said. "That was a big win. Those are the kind of games that we need if we are going to go all the way. To play tough games like that and come back, it was big."

Kayla Dunn had a superb performance from the circle, striking out 12 before leaving in the top of the 10th with an injured wrist. The extent of the injury was unknown at press time.

Stevie Smith came on in relief to pick up the win.

Douglas' defense throughout the doubleheader was stellar. Olsen, Stevie Smith and Jessie Kizer each came up with some outstanding plays in the infield in game two.

Kaycee Wilcks went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, three stolen bases and a double and Kizer went 2-for-4 at the plate for Douglas.

Valerie Smith also had a triple on the afternoon while Dunn drove in a run as well.

In the opening game of the day, Puzey struck out 10 and scattered two walks and three hits over seven innings to pick up a 3-0 win over St. Francis.

Puzey and Olsen did most of the offensive damage in the game, each going 2-for-3. Olsen scored two runs and Puzey doubled, homered and drove in all three runs to help her own effort.

Missy Kaplan had Douglas' only other hit of the game. Kaplan and Sam Willson each stole a base.

Douglas improved to 23-7 overall with the sweep and will host Reed at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.