GULF SHORES, Ala. (March 9, 2021) – It was a disappointing weekend at the Gulf Coast Invitational for the No. 25 Webber International University softball team, which won only two of its six games at the tournament. The Warriors are now 12-10 overall in 2021.
Game 1 (No. 25 Webber 1, Texas A&M-Texarkana 2):
- Texas A&M-Texarkana struck first with a two-out, two-RBI single to center field in the top of the fourth inning.
- Webber cut its deficit in half in the bottom of the sixth with a one-out double to center by Mary-Margaret Maggard, followed by a two-out RBI-single by Cassidy Roberts, but then in the seventh, the Warriors went down 1-2-3 for the fifth time in the game to end it.
- Webber only had five hits as a team, four of which came from Maggard and Roberts, who were both 2-for-3.
- Kayla Swinson (5-1) suffered the first loss of her collegiate career, allowing five hits, two runs and one walk with three strikeouts throughout the first five innings.
- Jenna Chaudoin finished off the final two innings allowing only one hit, one walk and no runs.
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Game 2 (No. 25 Webber 6, Williams Baptist College 3):
- Webber led 2-0 with two unearned runs in the top of the third inning, but then fell behind after a three-run bottom of the third featuring back-to-back RBI-doubles for Williams Baptist.
- The Warriors took back the lead in the top of the fourth as Kyleigh Sprigle doubled to center field to score Cassidy Roberts and tie the game at 3-3, and then Krista Hoyt hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Victoria Atkinson to make it 4-3.
- Webber added two more runs in the top of the fifth on an RBI-groundout by Aubrey Brown and another sacrifice fly to center, this time by Kiersten Sanchez.
- Blakeleigh Boyett (2-for-3) was the lone Warrior with two hits while Mary-Margaret Maggard and Kelsea Friend both scored twice.
- Emma Maitland (4-3) improved to above .500 in the circle by pitching the first four innings allowing three total runs, zero earned runs and two walks while striking out five.
- Faith Campopiano pitched 2.1 innings allowing only one hit and one walk, and then Dariyen Moss finished off the final 0.2 innings with two groundouts to earn her second save of the season.
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Game 3 (No. 25 Webber 0, Blue Mountain College 8 – six innings):
- Blue Mountain scored in each of the first three innings and then had a walk off single to center to score the game-ending run from second base in the bottom of the sixth.
- Webber was held on only one hit, a one-out single to left field by Morgan Mills in the second inning. That, in addition to a leadoff walk by Samantha Rolfe in the top of the third inning were the only two times a Warrior reached base in the contest as Webber was sent down 1-2-3 in the first, fourth, fifth and sixth innings.
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Game 4 (No. 25 Webber 5, Louisiana State University Alexandria 7):
- Webber fell behind 3-0 after the top of the third inning and 7-1 after the top of the fourth.
- Webber's first hit of the game came from Krista Hoyt in the bottom of the third. Hoyt scored two batters later on a double to center field by Haley Saylor to make the score 3-1 after three innings.
- A two-run single to center field by Dejia Benn scored Juliana Ortiz and Victoria Atkinson to make it 7-3 in the bottom of the fourth, and then Webber made it 7-4 as Saylor scored on a passed ball in the bottom of the fifth.
- In the bottom of the seventh, Webber tried to comeback as Kyleigh Sprigle singled to left field with two outs to score Kelsea Friend, but a fielder's choice ended the game with the tying run on base.
- Webber finished with 11 hits in the game as Victoria Atkinson was 2-for-3 and Saylor was 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI.
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Game 5 (No. 25 Webber 0, No. 6 Columbia College 1):
- In what was a battle between two top-25 nationally-ranked teams, the Warriors were no-hit by Columbia's Lexi Dickerson, who finished with seven innings pitched allowing no hits, no walks and four strikeouts.
- The only Warrior to reach base was Kelsea Friend, who reached on an error by the first baseman with two outs in the bottom of the third.
- Webber's starting pitcher, Emma Maitland (4-4), pitched her fifth complete game of the season, and worked around nine hits to limit the Cougars to only one run.
- Maitland struck out eight batters and did not walk any. The lone run against her came with two outs in the top of the very first inning as a steal of third base by Columbia led to an error by the Warriors' catcher, allowing the only run of the game to score.
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Game 6 (No. 25 Webber 7, Faulkner University 1):
- The Warriors were able to finish off the weekend on a positive note against Faulkner, leading 3-0 after the first inning on RBI-singles by Alyssa Rodriguez and Cassidy Roberts, followed by a bases loaded walk by Kyleigh Sprigle.
- Rodriguez added another RBI with a run-scoring double to center in the top of the fourth inning to make it 4-0, and then in the top of the fifth, Faith Campopiano made it 7-0 with a two-RBI single to right field.
- Rodriguez finished 2-for-3 with two RBI's, was one of nine Warriors with at least one hit, but was the only one with more than one hit.
- The Warriors also had six stolen bases in the game, two of which came from Kelsea Friend.
- Kayla Swinson improved to 6-1 on the season as a freshman by pitching five innings allowing six hits, one run and zero walks.
- Dariyen Moss finished off the last two innings allowing only two hits, no runs and no walks.
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NEXT UP: Webber will open up Sun Conference play on the road at Southeastern University as the Warriors and the Fire start a doubleheader at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, March 10, in Lakeland, Florida.
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