DECATUR, Ill. - Playing their first games in eight days here Wednesday afternoon, Webster University was held without a run in dropping both ends of a non-conference doubleheader against 23rd-ranked Millikin University at the Workman Family Field on the Millikin campus.
In Wednesday's opener, the Gorloks were held to two hits in falling 14-0 in five innings and then tallied three hits en route to fallling 10-0 in five innings in the nightcap.
With the two setbacks, Webster falls to 1-11 on the season and has now lost eight straight since picking up a 2-1 win over Concordia-Moorhead during its Spring Break trip to Florida on March 8. Millikin extends its win streak to 11 straight games and improves to 12-2 on the season with the sweep.
Webster senior third baseman
Brienna Sheperd (Central Point, Ore./College of the Redwoods) had two of the Gorloks five hits in the doubleheader. She is now tied for fourth on the team in hits this season with five.
In the opener, Millikin recorded 14 hits and took advantage of four Webster errors to score seven unearned runs. The 14 runs scored by Millikin in Wednesday's opener were the most allowed by the Gorloks this season.
Millikin scored two runs in the bottom of the first to take an early 2-0 lead.
Sheperd broke up Rachel Patting's bid for a no-hitter as she led of the third with a single to left.
Millikin's lead grew to 8-0 in the third inning as they sent 11 hitters to the plate and used eight hits and two Webster errors to score those eight runs. Five of the eight runs in the inning off of junior pitcher
Kaitlyn Johnson (East Alton, Ill./Greenville University) were unearned.
In the fourth, Millikin plated four more runs thanks to three hits and two errors to push its lead to 14-0.
The Gorloks would pick up their second hit of the game in the top of the fifth as freshman centerfielder
Gabrielle Novak (St. Louis, Mo./Notre Dame) reached on a two-out single down the right field line. Novak would eventually reach third thanks to wild pitch and stolen base, but would be left stranded at third when Josie Magnabosco forced Sheperd to ground out to end the game.
Millikin recorded 14 hits in the win as Taylor Jordan went 3-for-3, while Bailey Gowin, Skielyr Trenkle and Alyssa White each had two hits.
Johnson (0-3) took the loss in the circle for the Gorloks as she pitched 2.2 innings and allowed 10 hits and 10 runs (5 earned), while walking one and fanning none.
Patting (5-1) earned the win for Millikin as she pitched 3.1 innings and allowed one hit and no runs, while walking one and fanning four.
Meanwhile, in the nightcap, Millikin had 10 hits, including three triples and scored 10 runs, including scoring six runs in the first two innings to hold a 6-0 lead after two innings.
Freshman leftfielder
Taylor Jackson (Calgary, Alberta/Bishop Grandin) opened the game with an infield single, moved to second on ground out, but would be left stranded at second as Magnabosco struck out Johnson to end the inning with two Gorloks on base.
Millikin would plate three runs in the bottom of the first, including two runs on a 2-run single by Kalli Farmer off of freshman pitcher
Arianna Arias (Pomona, Calif./Bishop Amat), who earned the start in the circle.
Three more runs in the second pushed Millikin's lead to 6-0 and then added another run in the third to push its lead to 7-0.
Freshman shortstop
Sheyla Iniguez (Riverside, Calif./Bloomington) would record WU's second in the fourth inning on her double down the left field line.
In the bottom of the fourth, Millikin added three more runs on three hits to take a 10-0 lead. The runs in the inning came home on a triple by Kailey Pulec and a 2-run single by White.
The Gorloks recorded its third hit in the top of the fifth inning as Sheperd reached on a one-out single, but was left stranded at first when Gracie Brookens retired the next two Gorloks in order to end the game.
Arias (0-3) took the loss for the Gorloks as she pitched 1.1 innings and allowed five hits and six runs (six earned), while walking one and fanning none. Johnson pitched the final 2.2 innings and allowed five hits and four run, while walking one and fanning one.
Aly Armstrong (3-0) was the winning pitcher for Millikin as she pitched two innings and allowed two hits and no runs, while striking out three.
Webster will return to action on Saturday, March 23 as they open the home portion and St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. against Greenville University at Blackburn Park.
