"I was proud of the response today," head coach Amy Tudor shared of the win. "We were strong in the circle and made adjustments at the plate. On the weekend, Shelby [Nunn] led us in the circle and TJ [Webster] and Sanders at the plate. Jordan [Ridge] and Brylee [Hage] had a solid weekend too."
The Hilltoppers wrapped up the opening month of the campaign with a 16-3 record, falling only to Power 5 teams. WKU closed Ole Miss Classic action with a 3-2 record.
Both sides struck for one-out singles in the opening inning with both runners stealing second before ending up stranded. For WKU, that runner was Webster.
In the top of the second, Bailey Curry drew a leadoff walk and would be replaced on the base paths by Maddie Poschke for her first collegiate appearance. A Maddie Bowlds sacrifice bunt moved Poschke into scoring position but she'd end up stranded.
From the second inning into the fifth, Nunn retired 11 straight Saint Louis batters and after a harmless base hit in the bottom of the fifth, Nunn would retire the final seven Billiken batters as well.
WKU sent eight batters to the plate in the top of the fifth, generating the game's only scoring in the frame. Randi Drinnon and Taylor Davis drew back-to-back one-out walks to turn over the order. Brylee Hage beat out a bunt single to load the bases and bring up Webster who accounted for her third hit of the game to push across the first run. Taylor Sanders reached on a fielder's choice that saw the runner out at the plate before Jordan Ridge struck for a two-RBI base hit to push the Hilltopper lead to a 3-0 margin.
Abby Newman added the Tops' final hit in the top of the sixth with a base hit.
In addition to her second three-hit game of the season, Webster also swiped two bases as well as driving in a run.
Nunn worked her second solo complete-game shutout in the win that improved her to 9-2 on the season. The fifth-year pitcher tallied six strike outs with zero walks and just three hits allowed. She's up to six complete-game outings this season.
Jessica Bush earned her first start as a Hilltopper, patrolling right field.
Neither team produced an extra-base hit in the contest, WKU is now 1-1 on the season when not recording a hit of such. The other outing was WKU's previous game against Ole Miss the night prior.
WKU remains on the road for its next five games with a series at Charlotte next weekend to open Conference USA action leads the Tops into their first midweek action – a doubleheader at Chattanooga on March 16.
COMPLETE WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Friday
1 p.m. – WKU def. Samford, 4-0
6 p.m. – Ole Miss def. WKU, 2-0
Saturday
1 p.m. – WKU def. Samford, 8-3
6 p.m. – Ole Miss def. WKU, 10-2 [6]
Sunday
10 a.m. – WKU def. Saint Louis, 3-0
TOP STORYLINES
- WKU improves to 3-0 all-time against Saint Louis with the win.
- Coach Tudor is in her 18th season as a head coach – ninth on The Hill – and owns a 467-367-2 career coaching record.
- TJ Webster added a three-hit game, bringing her season total to six multi-hit games. Jordan Ridge added her sixth multi-hit effort on the season as well as her fourth multi-RBI outing.
- While Taylor Sanders' 13-game hitting streak came to an end, her reached base streak is now up to 19 games. Bailey Curry is just behind her at 18 games.
- WKU has gone back-to-back games without an extra-base hit and is 1-1 in such outings this season.
How to Follow Hilltopper Softball: For complete information on WKU Softball, follow the team on Twitter at @WKUSoftball, Instagram @WKU_Softball and Facebook /WKUSoftball.
