Lady Saints Blow Out, Then Lose to Clarendon

Just when you thought the Jekyll and Hyde Lady Saints were gone and past, they showed up again Tuesday afternoon in Clarendon.  After hammering Clarendon 22-1 in game one of their non-conference doubleheader, Seward inexplicably lost the second game of the twinbill 8-6 to the 12-28  Bulldogs. 

It took a while for Seward to get going in the opener, but when they did, it was bad news for the Bulldogs.

Neither team scored in the 1^st inning and Seward took advantage of a Clarendon error to put a run on the board in the 2^nd to take a 1-0 lead. 

In the 3^rd Seward opened things up as their first five hitters of the inning reached base with RBI singles coming from Becky Allen and Marissa Chavez to stake the Lady Saints to a 3-0 lead.  They weren't done there.  With one out in the inning a wild pitch plated Seward's third run of the inning and an RBI single from Vanessa Oakden made it a 6-0 game.  After the Oakden single, Felisha Vogelaar got in the act with a sacrifice fly and after 2 ½ it was 7-0 Seward. 

Clarendon made some noise in the bottom half of the inning, loading the bases with one out, but Lady Saints starter Brittany Hopkins induced a double play to end the threat and the inning with Seward still on top 7-0. 

Chavez's second RBI in as many innings gave Seward an 8-0 lead in the 4^th and a Clarendon error tacked on another run for the Lady Saints to make it 9-0.  With two outs in the inning an RBI double from Tiffanie Bolanos scored another Seward run and the big blow came off the bat of Oakden in the form of a two run home run to give Seward a 12-0 advantage. 

The Bulldogs finally got their first run of the game in the bottom half of the 4^th inning after a Seward error allowed them to extend the inning making it 12-1. 

The Lady Saints were right back on the sticks in the 5^th though as they batted around in the inning without a single out.  Allen picked up her second RBI single of the game and Chavez knocked in two more with a single to make it 16-1.  A triple from Joe Ann Rapoza stretched the lead to 17-1 and RBI hits from Bolanos and Carmen Hughes plated two more to make it 19-1.  They still weren't done there.  A groundout off the bat of Andrea Sitter scored another Seward tally and back to back RBI extra base hits for Pokey Ewell and Allen made it a 22-1 game. 

With their balloon abruptly popped, Clarendon laid down in the bottom of the 5^th as Lady Saints reliever Jacyln Wagner picked up a strikeout and a groundout to close them out in a 22-1 Seward win. 

Seward hammered out 18 hits in the win and took advantage of 7 Clarendon errors in the contest.  Allen led the Lady Saints offense, going 4 for 5 with 3 RBI's and 3 runs scored in the victory.  Ewell had 3 hits and 4 runs scored, missing the cycle by just a home run for Seward while Bolanos and Oakden each had 2 hits and 3 RBI's in the win.  Hopkins picked up the win in the circle, going 4 innings and allowing just 6 hits and 1 unearned run. 

SEWARD COUNTY/CLARENDON GAME ONE BOX SCORE

After exploding offensively in game one, the 1^st inning of game two was a bad precursor to the way that game two was about to go as the Lady Saints went down in order in the top half of the 1^st including a pair of strikeouts, something they didn't do once in the opener. 

Clarendon's 1^st inning was a little bit different as the first six Bulldog hitters of the inning reached base including a pair of RBI singles to quickly give Clarendon an early 3-0 lead. 

The Lady Saints struggles on offense persisted through the 3^rd where they remained behind 3-0 until Clarendon used two hits and a Seward error to score twice more to take a 5-0 advantage. 

Bolanos smashed a solo home run to lead off the 5^th and to break the ice for Seward making it a 5-1 game and later in the inning a pair of Clarendon errors extended the inning and allowed Ewell and Allen to pick up RBI knocks to get the Lady Saints back to within one at 5-4. 

Clarendon threatened to get the runs right back in the bottom half of the inning, loading the bases with two outs, but Seward starter Katelyn Craker got a three pitch strikeout to get out of the jam and keep her team down just one. 

Seward's offense couldn't take advantage of the zero however as they failed to score in the 6^th and Clarendon again put the pressure on the Lady Saints in the bottom half, scoring three times, including a two out two RBI double to push their lead to 8-4. 

The Lady Saints made some noise in their final at bats as their first four hitters of the inning reached base including a two RBI double from Allen with one out, but with two cracks to tie the game with the equalizing run at the plate, Seward was unable to come through and a groundout and a pop out ended the game as the Lady Saints fell 8-6. 

Clarendon outhit Seward 11-8 in the contest and 3 Lady Saint errors ended up being the difference in the two run loss.  Allen was big again in the middle of the Seward order, this time going 2 for 4 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI's while no other Seward player had more than 1 hit in the defeat.  Craker suffered just her third loss of the season as she was hit hard, allowing 11 hits and 8 runs, 6 earned in 6 innings of work. 

SEWARD COUNTY/CLARENDON GAME TWO BOX SCORE

The loss is a disappointing one for the Lady Saints, dropping them to 36-9 overall on the year.  Clarendon gets arguably their best win of the season, improving to 13-28 on the year. 

Next up for the Lady Saints is somewhat of a Region VI/Region IX showdown in Colby as Seward will join a host of other Jayhawk schools in Northwest Kansas to take on their foes from the Empire Conference.  The Lady Saints will play McCook, Western Nebraska, and Trinidad State on Saturday with Sunday's games against Otero and Lamar being highly questionable due to forecasted weather in the area.