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Tulsa
Wichita State
Softball Sweeps Doubleheader from Wichita State
4/6/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 6, 2011
Box Score |
Box Score 
TULSA, Okla. - Jordan Kinard struck out a career-high 16 batters in game two, and Aimee Creger went 2-for-3, homered, scored two runs and picked up the save in game one to lead the Tulsa softball team to a pair of wins, 4-1 and 5-0, over Wichita State Wednesday at the Donna J. Hardesty Sports Complex.
The Golden Hurricane improved to 29-9 overall while Wichita State fell to 9-26.
Kinard improved to 7-4 with her complete-game, 16-strikeout effort. Senior first baseman Kelly Chapman and sophomore Lacey Middlebrooks each homered, and Chapman led the Hurricane with two RBI. Seven different players got a hit for TU in the game two win.
Middlebrooks (8-4) earned the game one win, pitching 6.0 innings and allowing just one unearned run on five hits with one walk and three strikeouts. Creger came in to relieve her in the seventh inning and struck out all three batters she faced to pick up her fourth save of the season.
Sophomore center fielder Caitlin Everett and freshman left fielder Shelby Blanton each had two hits in the first game, while Chapman and junior second baseman Skylar Swanson each added an RBI to Creger's output.
"These were important wins for us. I challenged the team today - we had never swept (Wichita State) here. We had taken two out of three (in a season) in a couple of the years. It was important that we came out focused and we treated these games like any conference series or any big Oklahoma game in the past," Tulsa Head Coach John Bargfeldt said. "It was important to get Lacey out there. She threw a nice ballgame. Aimee came in and was lights out in a closer-type role. What can we say about Jordan when she goes out there and throws 16 strikeouts? She just had them guessing a lot and made a lot of good pitches.
"We've been scoring from different parts of the lineup, and that's kind of what we did today. You look at the box score from each game and we had several people getting one hit, and several people getting a run scored or an RBI."
After two scoreless frames to begin game two, Tulsa got on the board with four runs in the third inning. Sophomore catcher Cassidy Bowen began with a one-out single up the middle and Chapman followed with a towering shot that landed on 6th Street, beyond the left center field fence. It was her second homer of the season, and second in four games.
Freshman third baseman Jill Barrett then beat out a grounder toward first base for a two-out single, and sophomore shortstop Samantha Cobb doubled to right field, driving home Barrett. Swanson followed with a single to right field that scored Cobb from second base.
The Hurricane added one more run in the sixth inning on Middlebrooks' first home run of the season.
Kinard struck out the first four batters of the game, and retired the side on strikeouts three times. The Shockers managed to draw four walks and get four hits, but only reached second base five times, advancing to third base once. In the third inning, Wichita State had runners on second and third with one out after a sacrifice bunt, but Kinard got the next two batters on a strikeouts and a groundout to short to end the inning.
Wichita State starter Sloan Anderson (1-5) took the loss after allowing four earned runs on six hits in 3.0 innings.
Tulsa 4, Wichita State 1
Aimee Creger went 2-for-3, homered, scored two runs and picked up the save to lead Tulsa to a 4-1 game-one win over Wichita State.
For the full recap, click here.
The Golden Hurricane plays host to Southern Miss for a three-game Conference USA series this weekend at the Hardesty Complex. The teams will play a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 1 p.m., and a single game Sunday at noon. Saturday, TU will wear pink jerseys in support of the NFCA StrikeOut Cancer program.
For all Tulsa softball news and information, visit www.TulsaHurricane.com. Follow Tulsa Athletics on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TulsaHurricane and Facebook at www.facebook.com/TulsaHurricane.
Game 2Tulsa 5, Wichita State 0 (Apr 06, 2011 at Tulsa, Okla.) (Game 2) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Wichita State....... 000 000 0 - 0 4 0 (9-26) Tulsa............... 004 001 X - 5 7 0 (29-9) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Pitchers: Wichita State - Anderson, Sloan; Hull, Jamie(4) and Gerritse, Heather. Tulsa - Kinard, Jordan and Bowen, Cassidy. Win-KINARD, Jordan(7-4) Loss-Anderson, Sloan(1-5) T-1:51 A-330 HR TLS - Middlebrooks, Lacey (1); Chapman, Kelly (2). Weather: 82 Sunny, Wind S @ 13 mph Anderson, S. faced 1 batter in the 4th.
