Jimmies softball sweeps Mount Marty in home doubleheader
Mar. 23—JAMESTOWN — The University of Jamestown softball team hosted Mount Marty University and got timely hitting on their way to a 6-2 win on Saturday, March 23, at the Nelson Family Bubble.
The Jimmies opened the scoring in the first when Mackenzie Lefebvre hit a sacrifice fly to make it 1-0.
The Lancers had a chance to respond in the second when Reese Peterson reached on a bunt single but the runner Olivia Valdez took off for third and was tagged out for the first out of the inning.
The Jimmies blew the game open in the third when they scored three runs on four hits to push the lead out to 4-0. The score stayed that way until the fifth when the Lancers loaded the bases for Raegen Harper who reached on an error that allowed two runs to score and cut the deficit to 4-2.
The Jimmies were able to get some breathing room in the sixth thanks to a ground-rule double from Kayla Quintanilla to score twin runs and push the lead out to 6-2.
The Jimmies took advantage of situational hitting in the win as five of their six runs came with two outs in the inning.
"We kept the pressure on," Jimmies head coach Kevin Gall said. "We didn't give up many at bats. We didn't have many throw-away at-bats where you just go what are we doing up there. One of our goals was (to) put the ball in play consistently and we had probably not even a handful of strikeouts. So, that means we kept the pressure on them and continued to put the ball in play and they made errors today, so that's nice."
MMU 2, UJ 6
MMU: 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 — 2 2 0
UJ: 1 0 3 0 0 2 X—6 11 2
WP: Sunny Halsey (2-0), LP: Mackenzie Gray (4-5), SV: Hope Ransome (3)
Scoring plays:
First inning:
UJ: Mackenzie Lefebvre RBI sacrifice fly, Trinity Gregg scores
Third inning:
UJ: Ally Battistoni two RBI triple, Marin Rasmussen, Kayla Quintanilla score
UJ: Gracie Fisher RBI double, Battistoni scores
Fifth inning:
MMU: Reagan Harper reaches on an error, Sami Noble, Janeah Castro score, unearned
Sixth inning:
UJ: Quintanilla two-RBI double, Samarah Martinez, Abby Blair score
The Jimmies took advantage of multiple Lancers miscues to get a 13-2 run-rule win over the Lancers in the second game of the doubleheader.
The Lancers had seven errors in the loss. Out of the 13 Jimmies runs, nine of them were unearned.
"We kind of just kept putting the ball in play," Quintanilla said. "Gall said, this team maybe wasn't the best at fielding all the time, so as long as we continuously put the ball in play whether it's a weak ground ball or something hard in the infield, we know they at least have to field the ball and make a good throw, So, we just kept putting pressure on them that way."
The Jimmies (18-5, 4-0) got off to a fast start as they led off with a walk and two batters later, Quintanilla hit a single and moved to second on an error to score two runs and make it 2-0. The home team added another one in the frame to take a 3-0 lead.
"Mentally we gotta stay in it, if they're gonna give us good pitches to hit then we need to be striking them and converting on them more than not," Gall said. "So, fortunately, we were able to put runs up early in the first and second game and then we can relax and play and steal bases and those types of things."
The Lancers (9-13, 2-2) got one back in the top of the second before the Jimmies blew the game wide open in the bottom of the second as they put up five runs on two hits and four Lancers errors to take an 8-1 lead.
The Jimmies were not the only team to take advantage of errors as the Lancers got one back in the third when the Lancers' Autumn Porter grounded to second but the throw from Gentry Turin was past the shortstop allowing a run from third to score and cut the deficit to 8-2. The Lancers threatened to continue to fight back later in the frame as they had the bases loaded and no outs but the Jimmies got a 1-2-3 double play to end the threat.
The Jimmies loaded the bases in the bottom of the third for Quintanilla who hit a ground-rule double to score two runs and push the lead out to 10-2. Over the two games, the junior went 5-for-8 with five RBIs. Quintanilla said she saw rise balls and inside pitches that were left over the heart of the plate primarily in her at-bats in these two games.
"I know I'm really good at hitting outside pitches so I was looking for something out but any mistake that was left out of over the plate I hit," Quintanilla said. "So, it all turned out good for me."
The Jimmies are back in action at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, March 26, when they go to Dakota Wesleyan University.
MMU 2, UJ 13
MMU: 0 1 1 0 0 — 2 4 7
UJ: 3 5 5 0 X — 13 12 3
WP: Abby Blair (7-3), LP: Jacey Hayen (2-5)
Scoring plays:
First inning:
UJ: Quintanilla two run single, Martinez, Gregg score
UJ: Hope Ransome RBI double, Quintanilla scores
Second inning:
MMU: Janeah Castro RBI single, Abby Johnson scores
UJ: Martinez double, Gregg scores, unearned
UJ: Quintanilla RBI single, Martinez scores
UJ: Battistoni reaches on an error, Sidnie Aasen, Quintanilla score, unearned
UJ: Ransome reaches on an error, Battistoni scores, unearned
Third inning:
MMU: Kayleen Jaciento scores on an error, unearned
UJ: Martinez double, Gentry Turin, Amanda Burch score, unearned
UJ: Quintanilla reaches on an error, Gregg scores, unearned
UJ: Camryn Schwab single, Quintanilla, Martinez score, unearned
