College Softball: Westminster knocks off Fontbonne with doubleheader sweep

The Westminster Blue Jays finished their regular season Monday with a pair of wins against the Fontbonne Griffins at Blue Jay Field.

Westminster won the opener 13-7 and rallied in the seventh inning to beat Fontbonne 11-10 in Game 2.

Fontbonne is currently the No. 1 team in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference standings and Westminster is fourth. However, Monday's games did not count toward the conference standings.

In the opener, Fontbonne scored five runs in the top of the fourth inning to take a 5-3 lead, but Westminster answered with four runs in the bottom half of the inning and led the rest of the way.

Brooke Laidley hit a two-run home run in the fourth to give the Blue Jays a 7-5 lead.

Westminster added three runs in each of the fifth and sixth innings.

Laidley finished the game 2-for-3 with four RBI, while Emily Esquivel had a pair of doubles and three RBI. Katie Price finished with three singles and Kasey Ginder added two singles and two RBI.

Price was also the winning pitcher for Westminster. In seven innings, she allowed seven runs on 14 hits with three walks and two strikeouts.

In Game 2, Westminster and Fontbonne were tied at 2 through two innings, then tied at 3 through three. The Griffins added two runs in the fourth and five more in the fifth to stretch their lead to 10-4.

The Blue Jays answered with five runs in the bottom of the fifth, pulling within one run at 10-9. In the seventh, Esquivel scored on an error to tie the game and Mackenzie Myers singled to left field, scoring Laney Rosson for the winning run.

Laidley also hit a two-run homer in the nightcap to score the Blue Jays' first runs of the game, while Rosson and Torie Thurston each had a double.

Allison Cook and Brooklyn Bledsoe each had three hits for Westminster, while Kelsey Logan (South Callaway High School), Rosson and Myers each had two hits.

Rosson, Janae Shirk, Laidley and Cook each drove in two runs for the Blue Jays, who played everyone on the roster during the doubleheader.

Price was the winning pitcher again, this time in relief of Bledsoe. Price pitched 2 scoreless innings and finished with one walk and one strikeout.

Skylar Freeman hit a solo home run in Game 2 for Fontbonne (14-13, 9-3 SLIAC).

Westminster (15-17, 6-6 SLIAC) will begin play next Tuesday in the SLIAC Tournament. Following the play-in games, the Blue Jays will host the remaining six games in the conference tournament, which will conclude Saturday, May 8.