Hattiesburg, Miss. - The WKU softball team (1-1) started out the 2009 season by shutting out Central Arkansas (0-1) 9-0 in game one of the Southern Miss Tournament. The Lady Toppers scored nine runs after racking up eleven hits and were perfect in the field. In game two, the Lady Toppers fell to Arkansas (2-0) 7-4 after posting 12 more hits during the game.
Against Central Arkansas, the Lady Toppers were quiet on offense until the fourth inning when junior Kelsey McCauley reached first base off a bunt. Following the bunt, senior Sam Cronk recorded her first RBI of the season after she doubled to left field and reached third after the throw. Cronk gave the Lady Toppers a 2-0 lead after a wild pitch by Central Arkansas’ Holli Hill.
Junior Lindsay Antone kept things going for the Lady Toppers in the fifth inning off a solo home run to center field that gave WKU a 3-0 lead. But, it was the sixth inning that was WKU’s biggest of the day. After senior Terri Ellingsworth walked and junior Shannon Smith reached first base after an error by Central Arkansas, Cronk had her biggest hit of the day, a three-run homer that gave WKU a 6-0 lead. WKU wasn’t done in the inning though, and WKU scored another run in the sixth after an Antone single that scored junior Brooke Reed, who had recorded a single earlier in the inning.
After retiring three straight batters in the sixth inning off two groundouts and a fly ball, the Lady Toppers ended the game by collecting two more runs off a Cronk double and a Jamie Hennis double. WKU finished game one with 11 hits and senior Ryan Rogge (1-0) collected her first win of the season on the mound after striking out nine and allowing only five hits and zero walks.
In the second game of the day against Arkansas, the Lady Toppers gave up three early runs to the Razorbacks but battled back in the fifth inning to go down by just one run. In the fifth inning, junior Hennis reached second base off an error by Arkansas and scored WKU’s first run of the game after junior Rachelle Boucher singled and reached second on the throw. Boucher advanced to third after an Antone single and the Lady Toppers ended the inning scoring one more run after senior Rebecca Horesky hit a RBI sacrifice fly that drove in Boucher.
Down 3-2, Arkansas’ bats got hot in the sixth inning and the Razorbacks scored four runs in the inning to take a 7-2 lead. But, WKU wouldn’t go down without a fight and in the bottom of the sixth, the Lady Toppers answered Arkansas by scoring one run. From there, the Lady Toppers shut down Arkansas and scored one more run in the seventh inning.
Senior Jennifer Kempf (0-1) finished the day giving up seven runs on eleven hits. In seven innings, she struck out five and also recorded five walks.
In game one, WKU was led by Cronk who recorded three hits, five RBI and scored three runs. Additionally, she posted two doubles and hit a three-run homerun. Four Lady Toppers recorded two hits against Arkansas.
The Lady Toppers will conclude action tomorrow in Hattiesburg, Miss. at the Southern Miss Tournament when they take on Samford at 10 a.m. and Central Arkansas at 3 p.m.
