The William Jewell softball team rallied to take two wins over Ashland University and Upper Iowa on the opening day of the Lewis Dome Invitational. The Cardinals topped Ashland 8-6 before defeating Upper Iowa 3-2 in ten innings. Jewell has now won four consecutive and stands at 6-4 on the season.
In the opener Ashland jumped out to a 4-0 lead before Jewell responded to score three runs on RBI from
Brooke Bernard,
Phoebe Dabbour, and
Morgan Olson. The Eagles tacked on another run in the bottom of the third to take a 5-3 advantage.
In the top of the sixth inning, the Cardinals took their first lead of the day as Dabbour sent a rocket to right center scoring
Nona Pauline and
Madi Giles.
Jewell added three more insurance runs in the top of the seventh after Bernard doubled over the head of the Ashland left fielder to give her team an 8-5 lead.
The Eagles got one run back in the bottom of the seventh before
Shelby McGraw shut the door, earning the save. Sophomore
Taylor Friesen earned the win throwing four and one-third shutout innings in relief. Giles posted four hits, while Bernard added three, and
Maddie Greenstreet two to lead the Cardinals. Bernard and Dabbour each totaled three RBI.
In the second game of the day, Jewell and Upper Iowa battled through a ten inning pitchers dual. The Peacocks grabbed a 1-0 lead on a Cardinal error and held the lead until the top of the seventh inning. With Jewell down to their final three outs senior
Nona Pauline blasted a solo home run over the left field fence to tie the game at one.
With the international tiebreaker rule in effect in the eighth inning,
Ellie Ottensmeyer scored on a throwing error by Upper Iowa after
Maddi Cox executed a perfect sacrifice bunt, to give Jewell a 2-1 lead. The Peacocks tied the game again on a ground out in the bottom of the frame.
After a scoreless ninth inning,
Brooke Bernard singled up the middle to lead off the tenth scoring Pauline from second base to put the Cardinals up 3-2. Upper Iowa loaded the bases before shortstop
Megan Barnes made a diving play in shallow left field for the third out to secure the win.
Bernard led Jewell with two hits while Pauline scored two runs. In total the Cards were limited to just five hits and left four runners on base.
In the circle senior
Shelby McGraw went the distance, tossing all ten innings for a pitch count over 140 to earn the win. She allowed just seven hits, two runs (none earned), and two walks.
The Cardinals will continue play at the Dome Invitational tomorrow with games against Walsh University at 6:00 p.m. and Grand Valley State at 8:00 p.m.
