The Webster University softball team broke out the bats, blasting six home runs in game two, to salvage a split in a double header at Spalding University. The Gorloks lost the opener, 3-2, then squashed the Golden Eagles, 14-2, in the finale in Louisville, KY, on April 1.
The six home runs is the second highest total in a single game in team history, exceeded only by seven it hit in a game vs. Lincoln Christian College in 2006. The Gorloks broke a four-game skid with the game two win, as they start the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schedule, 1-1, and are 13-8 on the season.
In game one, Webster starter Chelsea Thornley (JR, Clinton, MO/Clinton) gave up a walk with one down in the Spalding first, and a double with two out scored one run. Thornley walked two more to load the bases, and a Gorlok error allowed a run to score as the Golden Eagles took a 2-0 lead.
Webster got one of those runs back in the third. Kate Sullens (SR, Highland, IL/Highland) was hit by a pitch and Katelyn Johnson (SR, Cambridge, IL/Woodstock) singled. Abby Burroughs (FR, Edwardsville, IL/Triad) doubled in Sullens to make it 2-1.
Unfortunately, the Golden Eagles picked that run back up in their half of the third. Thornley almost pitched around a single to open the inning, retiring the next two batters. But a single and double scored one runner, with further damage avoided when the runner at first was nailed at home trying to score.
The Gorloks made it a one-run game in the fifth. Burroughs tripled and scored on a double by Kayla Day (SR, Caruthers, CA/Caruthers) to make it a one-run deficit, 3-2.
Burroughs singled with two down in the seventh, but was stranded as Webster finished with seven hits.
Thornley went four innings, gave up three hits and walked five, allowing three runs with just two earned. She took the loss and is 6-3 on the season. Morgan Mansur (JR, Decatur, IL/Mt. Zion) pitched two scoreless inning in relief, giving up a walk. Burroughs was 3-4, with a double, triple, RBI, and run scored.
Webster got off to a great start in game two, scoring three runs in the first. A pair of home runs gave them a lightning strike offense. With one out, Johnson homered to right, and after Burroughs walked, Day homered to left making it 3-0.
They added another run when Terri Dearth (JR, Lemont, IL/Mt. Assisi Academy) was hit by a pitch, Katlyn Garza (JR, O'Fallon, MO/Ft. Zumwalt North) walked, and Karissa Cardenas (SR, Henderson, CO/Prairie View) was also hit by pitch. Sidney Coleman (SR, Fredericksburg, VA/Fountain-Ft. Carson) singled in Dearth for a 4-0 lead.
The Gorloks piled it on from there. Burroughs hit a solo home run, making it three for the Gorloks in two innings, in the second for a 5-0 lead. Spalding had a solo shot in the second also but Webster added three more in the third.
Garza made it four homers in three innings with a leadoff solo shot. Cardenas reached on an error and Emily Kolisch (SR, St. Louis, MO/Incarnate Word) and Sullens singled to load the bases. Johnson singled, scoring Kolisch and Sullens to make it 8-1.
Day was hit by a pitch in the fourth, and Dearth doubled. With two out, Coleman singled home pinch runner Austin Peterson (FR, Lake Ozark, MO/School of the Osage) and Day for a 10-1 lead.
Webster had another four-run inning in the fifth. Sullens and Burroughs singled and Day blasted her second homer of the game, a three-run shot over the center field fence to make it 13-1. Dearth followed with the Gorloks' sixth round-tripper of the contest, a shot over the center field fence as well for a 14-1 lead.
Spalding scored a single run off starter Alexis Spriggs (SR, Scott City, MO/Scott City) in the fifth, and Webster won on the 8-run rule, 14-2. Spriggs is now 2-3 on the year, going all five innings, allowing six hits and two runs, while striking out six.
Day was 2-5, with two home runs and five RBIs. Dearth was 2-3, with a home run, double, RBI, and three runs scored. Johnson was 2-4 with a home run, three RBIs, and run scored. Burroughs was 2-3 with a home run, three runs, an RBI, and a walk. Coleman was 2-3 with three RBIs. Seven Gorloks had two hits or more as the team racked up 15 hits total.
The Gorloks have a double header at Principia College, in Elsah, IL, on April 4. They return home to Blackburn Park on April 8 as they host Iowa Wesleyan University for a double header.
