Sara Runge slides into third base in a game against Hug on Tuesday.
Playing the Hug Hawks is just what Carson High’s struggling softball team needed.
The Senators swept the two-game series, 16-0 on Monday and 16-1 on Tuesday. The sweep gave the Senators, 5-13, their longest winning streak of the season, and some much-needed momentum going into Thursday’s home game against Bishop Manogue which starts at 3:45 p.m.
“This is something we needed mentally, especially after the game we gave away last Saturday,” CHS coach Shane Quilling said.
Everything clicked against the outmanned Hawks. Carson tallied 34 hits in the two-game series, and pitchers Lauren Lemburg and Makenzie Tucker allowed just one unearned run and one hit in the same span. Lemburg went the distance Monday, striking out 10 and allowing just one hit. On Tuesday, Lemburg and Tucker combined for a no-hitter. Lemburg went the first two, allowing an unearned run and striking out five. Tucker went the last three, striking out six and walking one.
Quilling was especially impressed with Lemburg.
“On Monday, she was dominant,” Quilling said. “She was pitching lights out. Her back had been bothering her. It was nice to see her come back like this.”
After allowing an unearned run, Carson hitters went to work. The Senators scored four in the first, six in the second, four in the third and two in the fourth. Carson runners stepped off bases for the last two outs of the fourth inning.
Bailey Allen reached on a bunt single, and then was thrown out trying to reach third on Sarah Runge’s hit. Runge would eventually score on a wild pitch, and then Nicole Brown made it 3-0 with a two-run single. Gabi Winder made it 4-0 when she reached on an error, allowing Brown to score.
The Senators batted around in the second, sending 10 hitters to the plate en route to a six-run inning. Terryn Earle had a two-run single, while Brady, Winder and Lemburg drove in a run apiece. A wild pitch accounted for the other run.
Lemburg, Winder and Brady drove in runs to highlight the four-run third.
In the fourth, two errors paved the way for two more runs. Chandler Blueberg and Lemburg had run-scoring hits.
Brady led the offense with three hits, while Allen, Runge, Camiell Simpson, Lemburg and Winder had two each.
On Monday, Carson scored one in the first, three in the second, five in both the third and fourth and two in the fifth.
The Senators went 18-for-33 as a team with Allen and Brown collecting three hits apiece. Earle, Tucker, Lemburg, Winder and Simpson added two hits apiece. Brittany Bailey also hit safely.
