The calendar has switched to March officially, but the last time the Lady Hornets played softball was late last month. Last weekend, they travelled to Shawnee for the Midwest College Classic for a four-game tournament. They would split the games they did play, and the weather played a factor in the tournament as they cancelled the first games of March.
Game one saw the Lady Hornets face off against Maryville, and they sent freshman Hannah Butterbaugh to the circle. A clean first inning from both starters began the game, before the Lady Hornet bats got going in the bottom of the second. After two quick outs, the Lady Hornets got one on base via a single, then junior Elina Bartlett smacked a two-run home run to take an early lead.
Butterbaugh kept Maryville off the scoreboard for two more innings, and in the bottom of the fourth, the Lady Hornets tacked on their third run of the game off an error. With a 3-0 lead, Butterbaugh finished her fifth inning of shutout work to close her day. She ended the day by allowing four hits, no runs, one walk, to go along with one strikeout. In the bottom of the fifth, junior Brooke Flewelling added another run via the long ball to make it 4-0 as junior Izzy Sloan took over in the circle.
Sloan would continue to shut out the Saints, and the Lady Hornets added two more runs in the sixth inning to take a 6-0 victory. Bartlett and Flewelling combined to go 3-for-6 with three RBIs between the two to lead the Lady Hornets offense to a victory.
In their second game of the tournament and the doubleheader, the Lady Hornets faced Southwest Baptist and started quickly. Flewelling and junior Avery Brewer drove in a run each on a single and a double to give the Lady Hornets an early 2-0 lead. They added a third run on an error in the top of the second to give sophomore Chloe Wilson a solid lead to work with.
Southwest Baptist, however, had different plans as they teed off on Wilson, quickly taking the lead 4-3 by the end of the second inning. Wilson’s day would finish after she got the third out, turning the ball over to junior Morgan Tomlinson. As fast as the lead was taken, it was tied just as quickly when Flewelling hit her ninth home run of the season to tie it at four.
Tomlinson would have a clean first inning of work, but Southwest Baptist broke through for two in the bottom of the fourth inning and that was the dagger. The Lady Hornet bats after the Flewelling home run went quiet as Southwest Baptist got a 7-4 victory despite the early back-and-forth.
That would be the final game for the Lady Hornets at the tournament, as the Sunday doubleheader was cancelled due to rain and dropping temperatures in the forecast. Splitting the two games leaves the Lady Hornets with an 11-6 record.
Next up for the Lady Hornets, they will finish off their non-conference schedule with a doubleheader against Augustana at Trusler Sports Complex on March 8, starting at 1:00 p.m. They will look to finish the non-conference slate strong before beginning the MIAA season.