Babson Park, Fla. - The Webber softball team (12-9) showed solid hitting in their double header sweeps of Wesley College and Thomas University, and then succumbed to a very strong, #7 ranked, Bethel College team at Nancy Nichols field on the campus of Webber International University this week.
Webber started the week with a solid showing against Wesley College on Monday, winning 8-0 in the first game and 18-0 in the nightcap. At the plate for the Warriors, Shauna Ward went 6 for 6 over the two games with 2 doubles, 3 runs scored and 6 RBI's. Samantha Mendello went 2 for 2 in the first game, stroking her 2nd homerun of the year and driving in 3 runs. In the second game, Ashley Clark went 3 for 3 with a double, 2 runs scored and 3 RBI's. Overall, the WIU offense pounded out 27 hits in 10 innings.
On the mound for the Lady Warriors, Kristen LeFan pitched 6 innings in the first game and allowed only one hit while striking out 14. In game two, Kristen Stewart pitched 5 innings, gave up 4 hits and struck out a season high 9 batters.
On Tuesday, the Lady Warriors took on the Lady Nighthawks from Thomas University and the results were very similar as Webber won both games 9-0 and 9-1. In game one, the Lady Warriors scored 4 runs in the 2nd, 3 in the 3rd and 2 in the 4th enroute to their 11th win of the year. Senior Samantha Mendello again went big fly knocking a solid 2 run homerun and finishing 2 for 2 on the day with 2 runs scored and 3 RBI's. Joy Fuller also hit her first home run on the year and ended up going 2 for 2 with a double, a run scored and 1 RBI. In the second game, the Warriors went down 2-1 in the 3rd inning, but put together a 7 run 4th to put the game away. Shauna Ward continued her offensive attack as she went 3 for 3 and hit her 3rd homerun and 6th double of the season. She also had 3 RBI's to raise her team leading total to 16. Junior Ashley Clark also tagged her first home run of the season with a big 3 run shot to start the scoring in the 4th and Kristen Stewart added a 2 run homer of her own in the inning as well. In all, the Lady Warrior offense had 16 hits, including 3 doubles and 5 homeruns, over 10 innings. Defensively they played error free ball and turned their 3rd double play of the season.
Senior pitchers Kristen LeFan and Kristen Stewart were once again impressive on the mound as they earned their 6th and 4th wins respectively. In the first game, LeFan went 5 innings, gave up one hit and struck out 12 to raise her season total to 109 K's. Stewart was equally as impressive as she also pitched 5 innings, gave up only 3 hits and struck out 4.
On Wednesday WIU ran into a very strong Bethel College squad; currently the #7 ranked team in the NAIA. The first game started out very promising as the Lady Warriors put 3 quick runs on the board following a Krystan Mahowald walk, a Kristen LeFan double and a Shauna Ward three run homerun. However, that would be all the scoring the Lady Warriors could put together in the contest. Webber held a 3-2 lead until the top of the 5th when the Pilots from Bethel put 2 runs on the board to take the lead. The 6th and 7th innings would see Bethel add to their lead as their timely hitting, coupled with some untimely fielding errors by the Lady Warriors, would allow the Pilots to put the game out of reach. Kristen LeFan suffered the loss on the mound giving up 8 hits. She did, however, strike out 11 to raise her season total to 120 which currently ranks her #1 in the NAIA.
Game two of the double header started off rough for the Lady Warriors as the Pilots scored in the first 3 innings. Webber would finally break through in the 4th and 5th as they put 2 and 3 runs up respectively. Warrior Shauna Ward went deep in her second consecutive game as she knocked a two run home run in the 4th. Her 2 RBI's raised her team leading RBI total to 21. Currently, Shauna is hitting .526 with a .930 slugging percentage. She ranks #1 in the NAIA in total hits, #2 in total bases, #6 in RBI's, #7 in doubles and #8 in homeruns. Lady Warrior Kym Collins and Ashley Clark each hit their first home runs of the year as well in the contest.
The Lady Warriors will look to get back on track as they travel to the National Training center to take on Cedarville University on Thursday (11:30/1:30) and then host Eckerd College in a double header on Saturday beginning at 1:00.
