Feb. 21, 2014
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BOWLING GREEN, Ky.--The Western Kentucky University softball team (6-4-1) opened the Holiday Inn Hilltopper Spring Fling in dominating fashion, using 11 hits toward an 8-1 win over Canisius (2-4) on Friday.
Five Lady Toppers totaled two or more hits in the victory, led by senior Olivia Watkins 3-for-4 effort at the plate. Juniors Preslie Cruce and Shawna Sadler, sophomore Bethany Oglesby and freshman Andie Martin each totaled two hits each while Oglesby and Cruce had two RBI apiece.
Senior Emily Rousseau (4-4) earned the win after settling down in her role throughout the contest to give up six hits and one earned run while striking out five during five innings of work. Freshman Hannah Miniard closed out the final two innings with two hits allowed and a pair of strikeouts. Canisius' Sarah Andrews (1-3) went the entire game with five earned runs, three walks and three strikeouts.
The Griffs got off to a hot start with three hits and a run in the first inning of action. The visitors held the 1-0 lead until WKU knotted it in the third frame with a RBI single from Martin. The Lady Toppers' offense took over the advantage in each of the innings after, capitalizing on seven hits and two Canisius errors in the final three innings.
WKU went up 3-1 in the fourth after Oglesby scored on a Cruce single and Cruce crossed the plate on a Griffs miscue one at-bat later. The lead blew open in the fifth with Martin getting things started with a double deep to right field. With Rousseau on second and Martin moved to third after a Sadler sacrifice bunt, Oglesby notched a single up the middle to make it 5-1 before Cruce added another run with her RBI single to left.
Two more runs in the sixth sealed the win at 8-1 when sophomore Brooke Holloway stepped to the plate with two out and two on to cause the Canisius right fielder to miss a ball deep in the outfield and bring in the runs.
WKU is back in action on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. CT against Miami (OH) who split a pair of games in the tournament's opening day. The tournament's first game of day two begins at 10 a.m. CT at the WKU Softball Complex.
Gametracker for each game can be found on the tournament central page on WKUSports.com.
For more information on WKU softball, visit WKUSports.com or follow the team on Twitter via @WKUSoftball.
