Freshman infielder Nicki Sprague had five hits and five RBIs in the doubleheader sweep against Lake Superior State on Thursday, March 6. Photo credit: Steven Mercado
The offense of the Azusa Pacific softball team dominated in Thursday night’s doubleheader against Lake Superior State. The Cougars logged a total 24 hits on the night, 12 in each game. The freshmen phenoms, outfielder Abry Moreno and infielder Nicki Sprague, each logged five hits in the doubleheader, combining for 10 hits in the 6-1 and 9-3 victories March 6.
The Cougars opened up the scoring in the bottom of the third inning of the first game. Moreno singled to second base with one out for her second hit of the game. She advanced to second base on a wild pitch and went to third after a bunt single from junior second baseman Katrina Oviedo. Moreno scored on an error on the ball hit to third by junior outfielder Sona Babayan.
Sophomore first baseman Jessica Melcher smacked a single toward the Lake Superior State shortstop for the second run of the inning and sophomore designated hitter Janelle Eccles followed directly after with an RBI single of her own to cap the three-run inning.
Moreno earned her third single in as many at-bats to start the fourth inning. She advanced to second base on an Oviedo groundout. Sprague then tripled to left center, scoring Moreno from second.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, APU scored its final two runs of the doubleheader’s first game after a single from junior outfielder Renae Chappelle got the inning started. A fielding error at short and a fielder’s choice to the first baseman followed, scoring Chappelle from third. Moreno advanced to third and during the ensuing at-bat she stole home for the game’s final run.
Freshman pitcher Carly Xepoleas had a solid outing during the first game of the doubleheader. She pitched a complete game and allowed only one run on four hits with five strikeouts.
The action in the second game of the doubleheader started in the bottom of the second inning. Babayan began the inning with a four-pitch walk. Melcher followed with a single to left field and junior outfielder Rebecca Dawson laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners to second and third. Chappelle then reached second base with a squeeze and fielder’s choice to score Babayan from third base. Another fielder’s choice and a double play ended the inning, leaving two runners in scoring position for the Cougars.
In the top of the fourth inning, the Lakers sparked a three-run inning to take a 3-1 lead. They began the inning with back-to-back singles by senior utility player Heather Cuthrell and junior infielder Allison Traczyk (freshman pitcher/infielder Emily Estep pinch-ran for Traczyk), followed by a double from junior catcher/infielder Amanda Maxon that scored Cuthrell. Two batters later, junior catcher/infielder Kirsten Thompson laid a bunt down in front of the plate, but a fielder’s choice resulted in Estep scoring and Thompson reaching second base. Back-to-back walks with two outs scored the third run of the inning for the Lakers.
The Cougars responded with a four-run fifth inning, highlighted by a two-run single from Sprague. Babayan and Melcher also contributed with RBI singles later in the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth, APU sealed the victory with another four-run inning. A one-out groundball from Oviedo scored Chappelle from third and Sprague followed with an infield RBI single. The last of the Cougars’ 15 runs of the night came from a two-out, two-run double to center field from sophomore catcher Madison Hernandez.
Sophomore pitcher Narissa Garcia threw a complete game, allowing six hits and three runs and striking out four. The only runs Garcia allowed were in the fourth inning.
With the doubleheader sweep, the Cougars improve to 18-7. Their next doubleheader is Thursday, March 13 against Holy Names in Oakland, Calif.