Lady Blue Jays reach SLIAC championship
ELSAH, Ill. — The No. 3 seed Westminster College Lady Blue Jays defeated No. 4 Greenville (Illinois) College 6-3 in the semifinals of the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference postseason tournament Friday.
Westminster (22-15) — which opened play in the double-elimination format by edging No. 2 seed Eureka (Illinois) College 2-1 on Thursday night — faced a rematch against Greenville in the championship round late Saturday afternoon. A loss by the Lady Blue Jays would have set up a third game between the two teams for the SLIAC title Saturday night.
Results were not available at press time.
Westminster opened the scoring against Greenville on Friday with two runs in the bottom of the second inning. The Lady Panthers tied the game by tallying two runs in the top of the third, but the Lady Blue Jays countered with a run in the bottom of the inning to take a 3-2 lead.
Greenville pulled even again with a run in the fifth, but Westminster went in front to stay by scoring two runs in its half of the inning. The Lady Blue Jays added their final run in the sixth.
Junior first baseman Erica Burney went 2-for-3 with a home run, a double, two runs batted in and a run scored as Westminster finished with 11 hits. Senior starter Shannon Perrigo was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI, while junior catcher Alyssa Johnson went 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored.
Junior designated player Alyson Hahn was also 2-for-3 with two RBI.
Perrigo (11-6) went the distance to pick up the win. She allowed three earned runs on nine hits, struck out four and walked one.
Westminster scored the first run in the fourth against Eureka on Thursday night and both teams came up with a run in the fifth.
Johnson went 2-for-3 with an RBI as the Lady Blue Jays totaled eight hits. Hahn was 2-for-3.
Hahn (11-6) threw a complete game to earn the victory. She gave up an earned run on just four hits, struck out two and walked three.
Burney was named the SLIAC player of the year Thursday night and was an all-conference first-team pick at first base. Perrigo received first-team status as a utility player and second-team acclaim as a pitcher.
Hahn was selected to the second team as a pitcher and was joined by sophomore left fielder Amber Tepen. Johnson, junior third baseman Anne Baker and sophomore center fielder Leah Holthaus were third-team choices.
Baseball
Missouri Baptist 20
William Woods 11
HENDERSON, Tenn. — The No. 7 seed Owls resisted elimination three times before their run at the American Midwest Conference postseason tournament was finally brought to an end by the top-seeded Spartans on Saturday.
William Woods University — ending its season with a 28-24 record — advanced to Saturday by beating No. 4 seed Lyon (Arkansas) College 5-4 and then No. 2 Freed-Hardeman (Tennessee) University 5-3 in elimination games Friday. The Owls also downed No. 6 Williams Baptist (Arkansas) College 8-3 in an elimination matchup Thursday.
William Woods jumped out to a 2-0 lead over Missouri Baptist University in the top of the first inning Saturday, but the Spartans came right back with a four-run outburst in their half of the inning to go in front. The Owls answered by erupting for four runs in the second to take a 6-4 advantage, but Missouri Baptist broke out for seven runs in the third to take the lead for good.
William Woods got a run back in the fourth, but the Spartans tacked on four in the fifth and three in the sixth to widen their lead to 18-7. The Owls scored a run in the seventh and Missouri Baptist countered with two in its half of the inning. William Woods logged its final three runs in the ninth.
Senior first baseman Jordan Dey went 3-for-5 with four runs batted in as the Owls finished with 14 hits. Junior third baseman Jansen Smith finished 2-for-5 with a two-run home run in the ninth, a double and two runs scored, while junior second baseman Ryan Phillips was 4-for-5 and scored three times.
Missouri Baptist (42-12) — despite committing six errors — piled up 19 hits.
Senior starter Jesse Remington made it through just 2 1/3 innings in being tagged with the loss for William Woods. Remington was tagged for nine earned runs on 10 hits and walked one.
The Owls started the scoring against Freed-Hardeman (40-17) on Friday night by tallying three runs in the top of the first. The Lions responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning and one in the second to tie the game at 3-all. William Woods — avenging an 11-1 first-round loss to Freed-Hardeman on Wednesday — took the lead for good with a run in the seventh and added one in the eighth.
Senior catcher Grant Garrett went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI as the Owls amassed 11 hits. Junior designated hitter Alex St. Pierre was 2-for-4 with a double, while junior center fielder Neal Aherin went 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored.
Phillips was 2-for-3 and Dey went 1-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored.
Junior reliever Dalton Christian (2-1) threw three scoreless innings to claim the win. Christian allowed one hit, struck out two and walked three. Senior reliever Blake Novack struck out two in a scoreless inning to earn his third save of the season.
William Woods stunned Lyon (29-24) earlier Friday when Dey hit a two-run, walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th.
The Scots tallied the first run of the game in the top of the fourth and William Woods produced two in the fifth and one in the sixth to take a 3-1 lead. The Scots tied the game with two runs in the seventh and then took a 4-3 lead with a run in the top of the 10th.
Dey finished 4-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored as the Owls totaled 10 hits. Neal Aherin was 2-for-4 and sophomore left fielder Nolan Aherin went 2-for-5 with a run scored.
Novack (3-2) threw 1 1/3 innings of relief to log the victory. He gave up an earned run on two hits and struck out one.
Westminster 7 10
Spalding (Ky.) 1 6
The Blue Jays ended their regular season by sweeping the Golden Eagles in a St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader Friday at Saucier Field.
Westminster College (25-12, 16-6 SLIAC) scored the first run in the bottom of the second inning of the first game, while Spalding University (22-17, 12-10) came up with its only run in the third. The Blue Jays produced three runs in the fourth and three in the sixth to close out the victory.
Sophomore center fielder Nick Bohlmann went 2-for-3 with two runs batted in and two runs scored as Westminster totaled six hits.
Senior starter Deion Hughes (11-1) worked five innings to collect the win for the Blue Jays. Hughes allowed an earned run on three hits, struck out eight and walked two. Senior Collin Brinker — a North Callaway graduate — gave up one hit and struck out four in two scoreless innings of relief to earn his first save of the season.
In the nightcap, the Golden Eagles scored the first run in the top of the first. Westminster proceeded to build an 8-1 advantage by producing four runs in the second, two in the third and two in the fifth.
Spalding tallied four runs in the sixth to close the gap, but Westminster answered with two runs in the seventh. The Golden Eagles scored their final run in the ninth.
Bohlmann was 2-for-4 with two triples, an RBI and three runs scored as the Blue Jays collected eight hits. Junior right fielder Tanner Branneky went 2-for-3 with a home run, three RBI and two runs scored, while sophomore shortstop Adam Mundle was 2-for-5 with two RBI.
Brinker (8-2) started and posted the victory, allowing an earned run on just one hit in five innings. He struck out three and walked one. Branneky also threw 3 2/3 innings of relief to record his fifth save of the season. He gave up an unearned run on one hit, struck out five and walked two.
Westminster — the No. 2 seed in the West Division — will play MacMurray (Illinois) College, the top seed in the East, at 2 p.m. Thursday to open the SLIAC postseason tournament in Greenville, Illinois. Webster University — the No. 1 seed in the West — will face Greenville, the No. 2 seed from the East, at 5 p.m.
The losers from those two games will then play each other at 8 p.m.