ELLISVILLE, Ill. - Webster University opened up its 25th season of intercollegiate softball here Friday afternoon by sweeping a doubleheader against Nebraska Wesleyan at the Ellisville Athletic Association. 

In the opener, the Gorlok offense exploded for five hits and five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to post a 5-0 win and then used a walk-off double to the fence in centerfield in the bottom of the seventh from freshman second baseman Sidney Holtz (Taylorsville, Utah/Murray) to post a 2-1 win in the nightcap. 

The 2-0 start to the season for the Gorloks is just the sixth in the program's 25-year history and the first 2-0 start since the 2017 team opened the year 10-0. Nebraska Wesleyan with the two losses fell to 0-4 on the year. 

Friday's game was keyed by strong starting pitching in both games as senior Kirbie Mendenhall (Robinson, Ill./Parkland College) tossed a complete game shutout in the opener as she allowed six hits, while walking one and striking out two and then senior Morgan Parrish (Lawrenceville, Ill./Parkland College) threw five innings and allowed four hits and one unearned run, while walking none and fanning two. 

On the day, Webster's pitchers allowed a total of seven hits and one unearned run, while striking out five and walking one. In the nightcap, the Gorloks did not walk a NWU hitter. 

In the opener, NWU would put two runners on base in the top of the third against Mendenhall as Sydney Nickerson reached on a leadoff single and moved to second on bunt and would reach third when Hanna Roth recorded a single to third base. Roth would then steal second to put two runners in scoring position with one out, but Mendenhall would get out of the jam by forcing Ashlee Mayorga to ground out and Emma Alferi to line out to senior Alyssa McWilliams (Windsor, Colo./CSU-Pueblo) at third base. 

After being held without a hit through the first three innings, graduate student Abby Burroughs (Edwardsville, Ill./Triad) led off the fourth with a single to left. She would move to second on bunt by McWilliams, but NWU's Kailey Meyer would leave the three-time All-St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference selection at second after she forced senior Avery Boccella (Gilbert, Ariz./Trinidad State) to foul out and then she struck out junior Taylor Jackson (Calgary, Alberta) to end the inning. 

The Gorloks would finally dent the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth as they plated five runs on five hits to take a 5-0 lead. In the inning, senior rightfielder Anna Muecke (Lueneburg, Germany/Spartanburg Methodist) led off with a bunt single, moved to second on a bunt by junior shortstop Sheyla Iniguez (Riverside, Calif./Bloomington) and after Burroughs walked, McWilliams delivered a RBI single to left center to score Muecke with the first run of the game. On the play, Burroughs moved to third and McWilliams advanced to second. Holtz would then rip a 2-run pinch hit single to center that scored both Burroughs and McWilliams to give the Gorloks a 3-0 lead. Freshman Reese Waggoner (Centennial, Colo./Eaglecrest) followed with an RBI triple to right center to give WU a 4-0 lead. Waggoner's triple chased Meyer from the game and NWU brought Bailey Green into the game and sophomore first baseman Ashlee Seltzer (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Rock Canyon) greeted her with an RBI double to left center to complete the scoring. 

In the seventh, Mendenhall would walk Nickerson with one out, but left her stranded at first after ending the game by getting Hannah Lytle to pop up and Roth to foul out to third to cap the shutout win.

Both teams finished with six hits, including two extra bases hits each, as the teams had six different players record a hit in the game.

Meyer (0-2) took the loss in the circle for the Prairie Wolves as she tossed 5.2 innings and allowed five hits and five runs, while walking one and striking out seven. 

NWU left seven runners on base and Webster stranded three. 

Meanwhile, in the nightcap, neither team would put more than one runner on base through the first three innings, before NWU used two hits and an error to plate a run in the fourth and take a 1-0 lead in the game on an RBI sacrifice bunt by Abby Armentrout. 

In the fifth, Parrish got into some more trouble as she would retire the first batters of the inning before Roth delivered a single to right, Alferi hit a double to center to put runners on second and third with two outs, but Parrish got out of the jam by forcing Taylor Styskal to pop up to center to end the inning. 

The Gorloks would tie the game in the bottom of the fifth as junior Arianna Arias (Pomona, Calif./Bishop Amat) was hit by a pitch from Elise Warneke leading off the inning. Arias would advance to second on a bunt by Holtz and scored when Seltzer followed with an RBI double to left center. Warneke (0-2) would get out of the jam as she forced freshman leftfielder Shelbi Patterson (Sesser, Ill./Christopher) to line out and freshman catcher Jaelin Holdaway (West Valley, Utah/Cyprus) to strike out. 

After neither team scored in the sixth, NWU threatened in the top of the seventh as Annie Cooper led off with a single off of Waggoner, who relieved Parrish in the sixth inning and after Lytle moved Cooper to second on a bunt, Roth would reach on an infield single. Cooper and Roth would then excute a double steal to put runners on second and third. Waggoner, though, would strike out Alferi looking for the second out and then induced Styskal to pop up to end the inning. 

In the bottom of the seventh inning, McWilliams reached on a single to second and after Boccella reached on a error on a bunt play to put runners on first and second with no outs, Holtz stepped to the plate and with a 1-2 court she drilled a Warneke pitch to the fence in center to that scored Mendenhall, who was pinch running for McWilliams, from second for the game-winning run. 

Waggoner (1-0) earned the win as she tossed two innings for the Gorloks and allowed three hits and no runs, while striking out one. 

Warneke took the loss for NWU as she pitched six-plus innings and allowed four hits and two runs, while striking out five and walking none. 

Four different Gorloks recorded a hit in the nightcap, while Roth, Alferi and Mayorga each had two hits for the Prairie Wolves, who tallied seven hits in the loss. 

Both teams had an error and the teams combined to leave 11 runners on base as NWU stranded eight and WU left three runners on base. 

The Gorloks will return to action on Saturday, March 6 as they face 12th-ranked Transylvania in an 11 a.m. game at the Ellisville Athletic Association.