The William Jewell College softball team used some clutch hitting against Quincy University to earn the 4-0 win in game one of their doubleheader, but the host Lady Hawks were able to salvage the split with a 5-2 victory in the nightcap on Saturday in Quincy, Ill.

The opening game was a pitcher's duel between Jewell's Maria Buckingham and Quincy's Lauren Francis as the duo surrendered a combined six hits and the game was scoreless through the first nine innings.

The Cardinals, however, came up big in the ninth scoring all four runs in top half of the inning.  The Cardinals pushed four runs across off three hits, including a homerun by Taylor Brown. 

Ashlee Nation led the Cardinals offensively with one hit and two RBI's. 

Buckingham (7-6) earned the complete-game, two-hit shutout, as she struck out 9 batters in the win.

In the nightcap, the Cardinals jumped out to a 2-0 lead before Quincy scored single runs and the second and fourth innings respectively and then put the game away with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. 

The Cardinals struggled this time against Francis who earned the complete-game, four-hit win, while striking out seven batters. Jewell starting pitcher Amanda Storm falls to 2-4 on the season, as she gave up all five runs on eight hits in five innings pitched, while fanning three batters

Ashlee Nation went two for three with a run scored to lead William Jewell. 

The Cardinals, 13-14 on the season, will take on University of Illinois-Springfield on Sunday, April 1 at 12:00 p.m. in Springfield, Ill.