WNC softball loses three

No pitching. No hitting. No victories.

Simply put, it may have been the worst day of the season for Western Nevada College's softball team.

College of Southern Idaho out-hit WNC 50-11 and outscored the Wildcats 37-6 in sweeping a Scenic West tripleheader Friday at Edmonds Sports Complex. CSI won 12-3, 11-3 and 14-0. All three games ended on the eight-run mercy rule.

WNC dropped to 8-16 in league and 13-25 overall. CSI is now 18-5 in league and 26-10 overall.

Weather permitting, the teams will conclude their four-game series today at 10 a.m.

"It was a rough day, definitely," WNC coach Leah Wentworth said. "The pitchers did a good job of hitting their spots. They are one of the best-hitting teams in the conference, and with the wind blowing out fly balls were going to go out in the wind.

"When you face a team like that you have to come out and score runs, and we struggled offensively today."

How bad was it? Well the six total runs that WNC put up came in just four different innings. The Wildcats scored single runs in the first, third and fifth innings of the opening game, and Taleas Marble's three-run homer accounted for WNC's only runs in the second game.

For CSI it was just the opposite. In the 16 innings played, CSI was held scoreless in just four innings. Of CSI's 50 hits, 15 went for extra bases. In the third game alone, CSI hit six homers and had eight on the day.

"Western has been playing a lot of the conference schools tough," CSI coach Nick Baumert said. "We wanted to come in and play well. The middle of the lineup swung the bat well."

Lea Hopson, Kylee Hogue and Nikki Brailsford went 21-for-32 with 18 RBI. They were the biggest cogs in the Golden Eagles' batting machine.

All three had a big hand in CSI's opening game win. Hopson singled and scored, Hogue tripled in two runs and Brailsford singled home a run to key a seven-run first inning against the Wildcats and starting pitcher Ali Lostra. Averie Schroeder also contributed a two-run homer.

WNC scored one in the bottom of the inning on a single by Melanie Pfeiffer. However, CSI struck for three more in the second for a 10-1 lead. Patti Ferguson, Brailsford and Gabby Stacey all had run-scoring hits.

WNC added a run in the third when Jenny Quam singled, stole two bases and scored on a passed ball. CSI made it 12-2 in the fifth with two runs, and WNC managed just one in the bottom of the inning on a single by Pfeiffer. The one run wasn't enough to extend the game, however.

Quam and Pfeiffer led WNC with two hits apiece.

In Game 2, CSI struck for three second-inning runs, two coming on a single by Stacey. Ferguson singled home a run in the third to make it 4-0, but WNC bounced back with three, all coming on Marble's homer.

CSI closed the game with three in the fifth and four in the sixth, as Jessi Duncan retired 10 of the last 11 batters she faced. She allowed just three hits and fanned six.

CSI had another fast start in the third game, scoring six times in the first inning off Lexie Alley.

That was more than enough for Jyl Eckstein, who fanned five and walked one in throwing a 2-hitter. WNC only got one runner to third, and that was Marble, who had one of the two hits. Jordan Thomas had the other.