REDDING, Calif. – The EOU softball team took William Jessup to nine innings before dropping two-straight shutout losses to No. 6 Simpson on Saturday afternoon.
EOU struggled at the plate, posting only five hits in 70 at-bats. Junior center fielder Kaitlyn Reynolds, senior third baseman Jorden Gerlach, and senior first baseman Cheyenne Barker tallied RBI for the Blue and Gold. Both senior hurler Haylie Van Laethem and junior pitcher Hailey Kline saw action in the circle for EOU, combining for 14 strikeouts and a 1.69 earned-run average.
GAME ONE – WILLIAM JESSUP 4, EOU 3 (NINE INN.)
No doubt the most exciting game of the day, EOU battled William Jessup until the very end, rallying to take the lead in the eighth inning before ultimately suffering a 4-3 heartbreaker.
After J. Gerlach belted a sacrifice bunt to send junior pinch runner Ashlee Muller to third, Reynolds came up with an RBI single to right center field to put EOU on top, 2-1. However, the Warriors responded with a run in the bottom of the inning to re-tie the affair.
In the ninth, Barker mustered an RBI groundout to drive home senior right fielder Taylor Gerlach and help the Mountaineers regain a one-run (3-2) margin, but William Jessup rallied with two runs in the bottom of the ninth to steal the game.
Van Laethem collected five Ks and forced eight groundouts in the losing effort.
GAME TWO – NO. 6 SIMPSON 2, EOU 0
In the second game of the day, Kline registered eight strikeouts in the circle, but EOU couldn’t get anything going at the plate, as Red Hawk pitcher Hailee Nichols earned the no-hitter to seal the 2-0 win.
GAME THREE – NO. 6 SIMPSON 7, EOU 0
To cap the afternoon at the diamond, EOU left runners stranded in four of the seven innings before suffering a 7-0 setback to Simpson.
Junior shortstop Chelsea Spanier and freshman designated player Heather Hawkes both posted hits for the Blue and Gold, while Kline and Van Laehtem combined for one strikeout and eight groundouts in the circle.
UP NEXT
EOU (0-3) will look to bounce back on Friday against Northwest Nazarene in Nampa, Idaho. First pitch in the doubleheader is set for 2 p.m. MT.
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