HALLSVILLE - New Bloomfield Lady Wildcats junior starter Madison Love used her bat to prop up her complete-game outing.
Love drove in three runs and struck out five in a complete-game effort in the Lady Wildcats' 5-3 win over the Hallsville Lady Indians on Friday night.
Love allowed three earned runs on five hits, walked one and gave up a pair of home runs in a 100-pitch effort. At the plate, Love had half of her team's eight hits, going 4-for-4 with a home run and a double for New Bloomfield (4-0).
"We executed at the plate, getting hits when we needed them and laying down bunts," Lady Wildcats head coach Dara Reinkemeyer said. "We also played great defense (behind Love)."
The Lady Indians homered with two outs in the bottom of the first inning to take the early advantage. The Lady Wildcats squared the game with one out in the top of the second when freshman designated hitter Kaylee Beck's groundout to second scored junior pinch-runner Marlena Burns.
New Bloomfield jumped ahead 2-1 when sophomore shortstop Madi Craighead scored on Love's two-out double in the third.
Love's two-run homer to left with one out in the fifth upped the Lady Wildcats' lead to three runs. Junior left fielder Baylee Garrett's two-out solo homer to center two batters later finished New Bloomfield's scoring.
Hallsville plated its final two runs on a one-out homer in the bottom of the fifth.
Sophomore catcher Shelby Ruppel finished 1-for-2, while Beck and Garrett were each 1-for-3 for the Lady Wildcats. Craighead was 1-for-4.
The Lady Wildcats (4-0) rolled to a 16-0 victory in the junior varsity game.
New Bloomfield played in the Hallsville Tournament on Saturday. Results were not available at press time.