CONWAY, Ark. – Midland University softball picked up a pair of quality wins on Saturday after an 8-0, five-inning shutout of (RV) Lyon College and a 5-3 defeat of No. 16 Central Baptist College to wrap up the four-game road trip. Midland improves to 12-5 on the year and has now earned three wins over teams ranked or receiving votes in the NAIA Softball Coaches Top 25 Poll.
Game One: Midland 8, (RV) Lyon College 0 (five innings)
Emily Prai picked up where she left off after a four-hit performance last time out, ripping a leadoff triple to right-center to open the game. Katlin Anders brought her home with a double to right-center to give Midland a 1-0 lead. Roni Foote singled later in the inning to bring Anders home, extending the lead to 2-0.
The Warriors offense exploded in the second inning which was all kicked off by a double from Hailee Fliam. Fliam moved to third after a fielding error and scored after a sacrifice fly from Prai. Anders doubled for the second time in the game to score another pair of runs, bringing the score to 5-0. She was brought home a batter later off a double from Bobbi Singleton. The extra base hits continued to pour on for the Warriors as a triple from Carly Pfitzer scored another run. Lyon College made a pitching change, and the change paid off as the new pitcher was able to get out of the jam. The damage was done, however, as the Warriors held an 8-0 lead after two innings of play.
The remainder of the innings went by without much drama as neither team could string together any sort of offensive threat and Midland ran away with an 8-0 victory. Starting pitcher Hailee Flaim gave up just one hit in five innings of work.
Statistical Leaders:
- Katlin Anders: 2-of-3, 2 2B, 2 runs, 3 RBI
- Carly Pfitzer: 1-of-2, 1 3B, 2 RBI, 1 BB
- Bobbi Singleton: 2-of-3, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 run
- Hailee Fliam: 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 8 K, 1 hit
Game Two: Midland 5, No. 16 Central Baptist 3
Midland got on the board first in the second inning after Foote got on with a double and was scored on an outfield single by Pfitzer. The Warriors tacked on another in the fourth inning off a leadoff homerun by Sierra Athow. Central Baptist got one back in the fifth inning to narrow Midlands lead to 2-1. Midland continued to hold on to the one-run lead heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, and Central Baptist was down to its final out in the ballgame when the hits started to pour on.
A single and a Midland error found runners on first and second, and another fielding error moments later allowed the tying run to cross home plate. Fliam got out of the inning with a strikeout, but the game would move to extra innings. The Warriors would head into extra innings, facing international tie-breaker rules with a runner placed on second base. Foote wasted no time as she launched a two-run blast over the center field fence to give her team the 4-2 advantage. Prai pushed another run across after a single made its way to right field, bringing the lead to 5-2. Central Baptist got one back in the bottom of the inning, but the lead would prove to be too much as Midland earned the 5-3 win.
Statistical Leaders:
- Roni Foote: 2-of-4, 2 RBI, 2 runs, 1 HR, 1 2B
- Andrea Cespedes: 3-of-5, 1 3B
- Emily Prai: 2-of-5, 1 RBI
Up Next
Midland (12-5) will kick off Great Plains Athletic Conference action on Wednesday, March 24 as the Warriors are slated to host Doane University in doubleheader action. Game one will begin at 2:00 p.m. with game two to follow.
