Spartans drop two to Southeast

BEATRICE, Neb. – Southwestern dropped its first two games of a four game series Monday evening, falling to Southeast in its second consecutive doubleheader.

The Spartans dropped game one by a score of 9-3 and then lost game two in an inning shortened 8-0 game by college mercy rule.

Game 1

The Spartans did a good job of getting on the board early, said head coach Nick Weinmeister, getting a run in the first inning off a lead off walk from Kaitlyn Schad.

The Spartans held the 1-0 lead into the fourth before a solo homer from Ali Enright gave the Spartans a little more cushion at 2-0. The lead however was short lived.

Seven straight runs from Southeast blew the game open, making it a 7-2 ballgame with Blackhawks holding control of the ballgame.

“We had a defensive miscue in the outfield and that led to a couple of hits getting strung together for them,” said Weinmeister. “We put a two more errors on top of that and end up giving up a seven spot.”

Weinmeister added that it wasn’t the opposing pitcher Janessa Chad wasn’t overpowering the Spartans offense but did keep the batters off balance enough to limit their opportunities.

“She did a nice job of hitting spots and filling up the strike zone,” said Weinmeister. “We at least showed a little more discipline at the plate, (but) I thought that we could have been a little better with runners in scoring position.”

Southwestern had the opportunities to drive in runs, leaving five runners on base in game one. All five were stranded in scoring position, standing on second or third base for the final out of the inning.

Game 2

The Spartans ran into the same trouble at the plate as they did the day prior in Kansas City, stringing together four hits in an inning shortened loss to Southeast in game two.

The Spartans faced the Blackhawks’ Katelynn Holliday, who was a little tougher on the Spartans, said Weinmeister.

“The story was our offense was just held at bay,” said Weinmeister. “She (Holliday) was on her game and did a good job in filling up the zone. We didn’t really have a whole lot of offensive production from the start of that one. ... She had a little more velocity and was really hitting her spots.”

The Spartans were held hitless until a leadoff double from Schad in the third inning. She’d be stranded on second base to end the inning and was the only extra base hit for the Spartans in game two.

Seven baserunners got stranded on base in game two, combining for 12 on the day.

“It seemed to be our theme of the day, we had our chances by couldn’t have that at bat to break us out of it,” said Weinmeister.

UP NEXT – The Spartans play Southeast again today (Tuesday) with a doubleheader starting at noon. Game two follows the conclusion of game one.

With what will soon be the third time playing a doubleheader in as many days, the fatigue may be setting in in both body and mind.

“I think the fatigue factor is there,” said Weinmeister. “ I wouldn’t honestly say it’s more mental. Now that we’re two days and four games in, just the over-analyzing of adjustments that need to be made and things that we need to do a little bit better. ... Just being able to string three days of games together and do it right from the start it’s something that they’re going to have to adjust to because that’s what it’s really like in college softball.”

Southeast 9, Southwestern 3

R  H  E

SWCC  100  110 0 —  3 5  X

SECC  000  702 X —  9  8  X

SWCC: Kelsey Tibbs 5IP 8K 1BB, Ella Rutherford 1IP 1BB. SECC: Janessa Chadd 7IP 5K 0BB. W — Chadd. L - Tibbs. HR — SECC: KaeLee Schluckebier (2), Alyx Gragg. SWCC: Ali Enright. 3B – none. 2B – SWCC: Ella Fitzgerald. RBI – SECC: Schluckebier (6), Gragg (2), Evans. SWCC: Rutherford, McElroy. Stolen bases – SECC: Parsons, Warers, Evans. SWCC: Fitzgerald, Jessen.

Southeast 8, Southwestern 0

R  H  E

SWCC  000  0  —  0 1  2

SECC  014  3  —  8  13  5

SECC: Katelynn Holliday 5IP 3K. SWCC: Ella Rutherford 3 1/3IP, Heather Jessen 2/3IP. W — Holliday. L - Rutherford. HR – SECC: Alyx Gragg (2). 2B – SECC: Sara Collins. SWCC: Kaitlyn Schad. RBI – SECC: Gragg (5), Parsons, Collins. Stolen bases – SWCC: Fitzgerald.