Article by Isabella Montano
McPherson, Kansas- The Central Christian College softball team were able to split the 4-game series against Southwestern Assemblies of God University at home.
The Tigers were looking to start strong with the first game of the series, but the Tigers were held to 3 hits and no runs in this game. Only 3 batters were able to obtain a hit, which were Amberly Barrera, Karmen De La Cruz, and Halee Wallin. Where Halee Wallin was able to obtain a double from the Lions pitcher with the struggling Tigers to put some offense on the board at all. Right off the bat, the Lions put on one run, but their continuous scoring all the way up to the fourth inning, where they put up 11 runs against Madalyn Griffin and Kayla Voss who came in for relief pitching.
Madalyn Griffin was the starter for game one, where she went 3 innings, allowing 8 hits, 9 runs, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts, and 1 hit by pitch. The Lions were only able to put up 2 runs within the 1st and the 2nd inning, but in the 3rd inning, Griffin gave up 7 runs, allowing SAGU to take a 9 nothing lead. Kayla Voss went into for relief pitching, the game was over in 5 innings, but Voss went 2 innings allowing, 3 hits, 2 runs, and 2 walks. Losing 11-0 in 5 innings, the Tigers were looking to take game 2 of the series.
Game 2, the Tigers came out to a strong start where they scored 6 runs in the first inning, where Iliana Luna got the scoring started with reaching base on a single to right. Destiny Holt hit a home run to center field, where she went 3-4 in this game with 4 RBI's, helping the Tigers have a lead for 6 innings. Chelsie Hirtler pitched for 6 innings but struggled to get outs in the top of the 7th, where Kayla Voss went in to relieve Hirtler, giving up 1 hit and 1 run with the rest of the runs charged to Hirtler. Even though this game ended in a loss, the Tigers ended up scoring 7 runs on 11 hits.
Saturday was a new day for the Tigers who were looking to spilt the series. The 3rd game consisted of great pitching on both sides, where Kayla Voss threw 3 innings of scoreless softball. Throwing for 5 innings of 3 run softball, and Madalyn Griffin went 2 innings of shutout baseball, allowing 1 hit, no runs, and 1 strikeout. The Tigers were able to take this game, where Destiny Holt went 2-2 with 2 singles, and Karmen De La Cruz batted in 2 runners, Chelsie Hirtler and Miranda Tegtmeier both had one RBI. The Lions out hit the Tigers, but the Tigers were able to pull out a win with the score of 4-3.
The last game of the series was a nail bitter, where the Lions got out to a strong start, scoring 2 runs in the 1st inning, but that did not stop the batters of the Tigers. Destiny Holt and Karmen De La Cruz both went 2-3 with Holt having earned a double, and Holt and De La Cruz both earned a triple in this game, helping the Tigers to gain some run support for Sara Lynch. Lynch went 7 innings of 4 run softball, throwing a great outing. Lynch did struggle to find the strike zone, but the framing of Paige Major helped to find the strike zone for her pitcher. The Tigers out hit the Lions with 5 runs on 10 hits and no errors, splitting the series, winning 2 out of 4.
Next Up: With the series split, the Tigers are looking to win or split the series against the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma on the road. The Tigers have a 4-game set against the Drovers, where the 1st game is on Thursday at 5pm, which is 2nd to the last series for the Tigers.
