MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Webster University softball team kicked off their 2023 seasons today when they traveled to Memphis, Tennessee, to take on the University of Texas at Dallas Comets and the Rhodes (Tenn.) College Lynx for a nonconference doubleheader. The Gorloks dropped both games on the day as they fell to the Comets by a final score of 12-3 and to the Lynx by a final score of 7-6.
In their first game of the day, the Gorloks got off to a tough start as the Comets scored six runs in the top of the first to take an early lead.
Jaelin Holdaway got Webster going in the bottom half of the inning as she hit a one out triple before scoring on an RBI from
Katie Croxall to cut the lead to five. The Comets added two more runs to their lead in the top of the second, but a sacrifice fly from
Reese Waggoner in the bottom of the third cut the lead to 8-2. The Comets added a run in the top of the fourth and three runs in the top of the fifth to extend their lead to 12-2 late in the contest. Webster would get one last run in the bottom of the fifth to cut the lead to nine, but the Comets would pick up the final outs of the game to solidify the win in the fifth inning.
Emma Steltzer (0-1) got the start in the circle as she allowed six hits and six earned runs in 0.2 innings pitched.
Ainsley Hinz and
Cheyenne Dickens pitched in relief as they combined to allow two hits and five earned runs while striking out one in the final 4.1 innings of the game.
Jaelin Holdaway had a great start to the season as she went 3-for-3 with all three runs scored for the Gorloks.
Katie Croxall also made an impact as she recorded two RBI in the contest. In addition,
Kaley Adzick went 2-for-3 in her collegiate debut and
Reese Waggoner added an RBI to round out the top performers for Webster.
In the second game of the day, the Gorloks found themselves trailing 3-0 after the first two innings of play. They bounced back to start the third as
Paige Thomas hit an RBI single in the top half of the inning to cut the lead to 3-1. They added another run in the top of the fourth after an RBI from
Emma Bovaconti, and then rallied for three runs, including a two run single from
Ainsley Hinz, in the top of the fourth to take their first lead of the season. The Lynx would retake the lead with a three run inning the bottom of the fifth, but an RBI from
Kaley Adzick in the top of the sixth would tie the score at six. The Lynx held the Gorloks scoreless in the top of the seventh and then scored in the bottom half of the inning to solidify the win.
Kaley Adzick got the start in the circle for the Gorloks as she allowed eight hits and three earned runs while striking out three in 4.0 innings.
Reese Waggoner (0-1) pitched in relief as she allowed six hits and four earned runs in the final 2.2 innings of the game.
Katie Croxall and
Reese Waggoner both finished with multiple hits in the game as Croxall went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and Waggoner went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.
Ainsley Hinz also had a nice game as she went 1-for-4 with two RBI. In addition,
Kaley Adzick went 1-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI,
Paige Thomas went 1-for-3 with an RBI, and
Emma Bovaconti added an RBI.
The Gorloks will have a quick turnaround as they will take on the Transylvania (Ky.) University Pioneers and the Rhodes (Tenn.) College Lynx tomorrow in Memphis, Tenn. Their first game against the Pioneers will start at 10 a.m. with their second game to follow against the Lynx at 2 p.m.
