Bats heat up in Pride's doubleheader sweep of Peru State
PERU, Neb. - Quickly transitioning to Heart of America Athletic Conference games away from home after a brief stint at home, the Clarke University softball team earned a pair of victories over Peru State College on Saturday afternoon by 10-1 and 6-3 finals.
The Pride offense combined to bash out 23 hits over the two games to score their 16 runs with six extra base hits also being recorded over the 14 innings, five of those coming in the runaway game one victory that was bookended by a pair of two-RBI triples in the first inning and seventh inning for CU.
In that opening frame, Clarke was able to jump out in front 2-0 thanks to an Oakleigh Harman triple that scored by Harlee Makue-Vasconcellos and Teal Transburg that would be followed up with three runs in the top of the second from a Kaylie Holtam RBI double and a two-run single by Lauren Hefel two batters later, making the score 5-1 after a pair.
Harman drove in another with a fourth inning sacrifice fly to finish with a three-RBI game before a four-run seventh inning truly broke the game open when Kynadee Harris singled home two before Holtam this time drove in another pair with a triple of her own to finish the game 3-for-5 with three RBIs and six total bases.
Five of the top-six hitters in the Pride lineup finished with two or more hits with Holtam and Hefel both producing three-hit games, then Makue-Vasconcellos, Harman, and Harris had two hits apiece as well as Olivia Sikora and Taryn Hoffman both finishing with a hit in the game.
Game two was more of a grind, with CU even trailing 3-2 heading into the fourth and fifth innings before a three-run top of the fifth gave Clarke the lead for good with some timely base running scoring some runs for the visitors.
Backtracking to the start of the game, Transburg was able to get the Pride on the board with a two-RBI double to left, but the Bobcats answered with two of their own in the bottom of the inning and another in the third to take their 3-2 lead with a pair of Clarke errors aiding PSC in tying the game and taking their lead.
Hefel was all around the action in the fifth inning, tying the game with an RBI single then also being credited for a pair of stolen bases, including a double steal that scored Makue-Vasconcellos then Hefel scoring on a steal of home on a walk to give CU a 5-3 lead.
Transburg added another RBI hit with a single to right in the seventh to make it 6-3 for the final run of the day and capping off a four-RBI 2-for-3 performance, joining Holtam and Harman in game one to all have three-RBI games or better on the day.
Highlighting the pitching performances for the Pride, both Emma Slayback and Ellie Flanagan produced five-inning performances to help carry Clarke to victory along with the offensive outbursts as Slayback's game one performance finished at 5.1 innings pitched allowing an unearned run on six hits with two strikeouts while Flanagan came in relief for game two for five innings of three-hit ball, allowing just one earned run and striking out six as she finished both games in the circle, also getting the final five outs of game one.
Clarke softball will wrap up their road trip with another Heart doubleheader on Sunday afternoon when they travel to Parkville, Mo. for a pair of games against Park University starting at 1:00 p.m. CT.