The Batesville Lady Bulldog Softball team defeated Rushville last night by a score of 3-2 in 8 innings.
The Bulldogs got on base early in the 1st inning when Laker singled to center with a base hit, but was thrown out on the next pitch as she attempted to steal 2nd. A strike out by Burkhart ended the 1st inning for the Bulldogs. A walk by Muir #14 to start the game for Rushville and a single to left field put runners in scoring position early. A 6-5 play on a ground ball forced Muir out at 3rd. A pop up behind home plate and catch by Cornn outed Kuhn, and a ground out by Muir #10 ended the inning with no runs scored.
The Bulldogs were held scoreless in the 2nd and 3rd innings while Rushville scored 2. The first came after Muir #14 singled to left field and then reached 2nd on an error by the Bulldogs attempting to throw her out stealing. A single to center field by Hamilton scored Muir on another error by the Bulldogs attempting to throw her out at home and allowed Hamilton to reach 3rd base. A sacrifice fly by Marquez scored Hamilton. Two ground outs later ended the inning.
The Bulldogs scored one run in the 4th inning after Obermeyer walked and Wilson tripled to CF to score courtesy runner Nunlist. The Bulldogs score their second run in the 6th inning after Waechter reached on an error and advanced to 2nd. Wilson singled to center advancing Waechter home.
A pitchers duel ensued through the 7th and into the 8th inning. After a strike out by Cornn to start the 8th, Westerfeld walked and courtesy runner Nunlist advanced to 2nd after a wild pitch. Garcia sacrifice bunted successfully to advance Nunlist to 3rd. Laker singled to left field scoring Nunlist. A Rushville strike out and two fly outs ended the game.
Westerfeld led the team in pitching with 4 strikeouts and no earned runs coming in to relieve Obermeyer in the 4th inning. Wilson led the team at the plate with 2 hits (single and triple) and 2 RBIs. Laker finished with 3 hits and an RBI. Garcia had 3 hits, Obermeyer 2 hits and 2 walks, and Burkhard ended with a hit. Wilson ended the game with 9 putouts while Burkhart finished with 6 assists.
Rushville looked a whole lot better defensively than they did last week and they made it very difficult to score runs. Westerfeld did a great job of shutting their hitters down when she came in to start the fourth inning.
‘This was a great win for us as we move to our last week of regular season softball with 4 games next week.’ Bulldogs Coach Randy Obermeyer.
Next up – Connersville on Monday at home with a 5:30 PM start.
The JV Lady Bulldogs traveled to Rushville Thursday evening and defeated the Lady Lions by a score of 13-2. The Lady Bulldogs capitalized on solid hitting and terrific pitching to earn the victory.
Batesville was first on the board in the top half of the third when they scored six runs off of eight hits in the frame. They would go on to add five more in the fourth and another two in the fifth. Rushville would get on the board but not until late in the bottom half of the fifth where they scored two runs. The Lady Bulldogs ended the game by getting an uncharacteristic 4-3-2-6 double play. Solid defense was key on the night as the Lady Bulldogs only committed a single error.
The Lady Bulldogs pounded out 16 total hits on the evening with Gwen Martin leading the way slugging out three singles, two runs scored, and an RBI. Abby Westerfeld, Chloe Saler, Hannah Nunlist, Anna Gerth, and McKenzie Laker all had two hits a piece while Kylie Laker, Ainsley Phipps, and Zoe Peters each had one. Westerfeld led the team with three runs scored while Nunlist and Phipps contributed with three RBI’s a piece.
Kylie Laker was excellent in her first start of the season going all five innings for the Lady Bulldogs punching out seven Lady Lions hitters.
The win improves the JV Lady Bulldog record to 6-7 on the season. Batesville JV softball will next be in action Tuesday evening at home against the visiting Milan Lady Indians. First pitch will be immediately following the varsity game.
Courtesy of Bulldogs Coach Stacey Kessens.