Softball Tops Saint Louis, 9-2, Sunday

Sunday, March 20

Lawrence, Kan.

12:30 p.m.

Tulsa

21-5

Saint Louis

8-14

Tulsa

Saint Louis

Softball Tops Saint Louis, 9-2, Sunday

3/20/2016 6:19:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

By: Eric Hollier

Box Score

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Jodi Edmiston and the Withee twins combined to produce six RBI to lead the Tulsa softball team to a 9-2 win over Saint Louis Sunday at the Rock Chalk Classic at Arrocha Ballpark.

Maddie Withee tallied two hits and two RBI, and Edmiston and Maggie Withee each had two RBI and scored a run. The Golden Hurricane improved to 21-5 on the season after sweeping through the weekend by a combined score of 29-3. TU also defeated No. 22 Minnesota, 10-1 (5 inn.) and UMKC, 10-0 (5 inn.) on Saturday.

Sunday, Tulsa scored nine runs on 12 hits, as freshman designated player Julia Hollingsworth and senior right fielder Kaitlin Allen also each recorded two hits. After falling behind 2-0 in the first inning, TU scored three runs in the second, one run in the third and fifth innings, and two runs each in the sixth and seventh frames.

Senior Caitlin Sill pitched 6.0 shutout innings in relief, striking out eight batters and allowing four hits to improve her record to 11-1 on the season. SLU starter Laney Kneib (2-2) allowed seven runs in 5.1 innings and took the loss for the Billikens (8-14).

"One of the things that we talked about was not letting what happened to us at Texas, when after some big wins during the week, it ended on sour note. I felt like this could be a trap game, and our players responded really well," Tulsa Head Coach John Bargfeldt said. "Getting that first run in the second inning and scoring early was important. The first couple of innings we hit a lot of balls right at people, so we needed to generate baserunners, and we were able to knock them in. We played in pretty tough conditions, so I'm proud of them for being able to go out and handle the cold."

Saint Louis scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning on a bases-loaded walk by designated player Brianna Lore, and a sacrifice fly by second baseman Allie Macfarlane.

The Hurricane responded with three runs in the top of the third inning to take the lead for good. TU alternated walks to senior catcher Catherine Horner, Hollingsworth and Allen around a pair of fly outs, then senior first baseman Jocelyn Sheffield and Maggie Withee hit consecutive RBI singles. Withee's base hit through the right side plated two runs. In the next frame, Horner followed Maddie Withee's single with a fielder's choice, then moved around to score on a groundout by senior center fielder Jodi Edmiston, giving TU a 4-2 lead.

Sophomore shortstop Shelby Estocado hit a two-out double in the fifth inning, and Hollingsworth drove her home with a single to left field. In the sixth inning, freshman Tori Stafford, who replaced Sheffield at first base, reached on a fielder's choice and Maggie Withee reached on an error to set up Maddie Withee's two-run double to center, extending the lead to 7-2.

Freshman Rylie Spell pinch hit for Hollingsworth and led off the top of the seventh with a single to center field, stole second base, and scored on Edmiston's double down the left field line. Allen then singled home Edmiston to make the score 9-2. Freshman Ashley Kiser picked up her first career base hit, with a single into center field in the seventh inning.

Freshman Ellie Reaves started in the circle for TU, but was relieved in the second inning by Sill. Sill did not allow a run in 11 innings of work over two outings during the weekend.

"Sill came in and did a great job getting out of a jam, and not giving them very many opportunities the rest of the way. She was able to keep their hitters off balance and get ahead in the count to most of the hitters," said Bargfeldt. "Julia is getting more and more comfortable, being able to slow the game down for herself, and putting good swings on the ball."

The Golden Hurricane begins American Athletic Conference play next weekend, when it travels to Houston for a three-game series against the Cougars Thursday-Saturday, March 24-26.

"This was a good weekend for us, when you consider the two midweek victories, and we won a bunch of games on the road," Bargfeldt said. "It's a good time to go into the conference schedule, when you have a lot of confidence. We have been playing well defensively, and our pitchers and hitters have been playing well too."

Follow Tulsa Softball on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TulsaSoftball and Facebook at www.facebook.com/TulsaWSoftball. Follow Tulsa Athletics on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TulsaHurricane and Facebook at www.facebook.com/TulsaHurricane.

Tulsa 9, Saint Louis 2 (Mar 20, 2016 at Lawrence, Kansas)
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Tulsa............... 031 012 2 - 9 12 1 (21-5)
Saint Louis......... 200 000 0 - 2 6 1 (8-14)
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Pitchers: Tulsa - REAVES, Ellie; SILL, Caitlin(2) and HORNER, Catherine. Saint Louis - Kneib;
Lore(6) and Weavers.
Win-SILL, Caitlin(11-1) Loss-Kneib(2-2) T-2:29 A-0
REAVES, E. faced 2 batters in the 2nd.