Shocker SB v Western Illinois

[flyingMoose]

The Westerwinds visit Wichita on Wednesday to play a twin bill against the Shocks starting at 4pm. These games are part of the spring break tour for WIU. The played a tournament in Norman this past weekend and played single games against 20/20 Tulsa yesterday and today, losing 0-8(5) and 6-7. Their record is 11-7 and includes a split in two games against Loyola and a win over Drake. They are picked to finish in the middle of the Summit League. Sammy Marshall was the 2013 Player of the Year in the league and has been Player of the Week once this year.

[flyingMoose]

I took the post of @1972Shocker: from another thread and put it here.

Shocks take game 1 from Western Illinois 10-6.

Kaitlyn Malone started for the Shocks and left in the top of the 4th trailing 4-5. Sloan Anderson came on in relief of Kaitlyn with 2 outs and a runner on 2nd and promptly gave up a triple to make 6-4 Western Illinois before retiring the side.

The Shocks added a run in the bottom of the 4th to make 6-5 and erupted from 5 runs in their half of the 6th to put the game away. Avery Johnson's 1-out infield single scored Melanie Jaeigers with the tying run. A Cacy Williams walk and a Sac Bunt by Kelli Spring put runners at 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs. Liz Broyles delivered the go ahead runs with a 2-run double down the LF line and Paige Luellen added the icing on the cake with a 2-run home run.

Sloan finished off the final 3 innings allowing only 1-hit and no runs to pick up the win as the Shock mover to 13-7 on the year.

WSU Line Score: 10R, 12H, 1E, 4LOB
WIU Line Score: 6R, 12H, 1E, 8LOB

[1972Shocker]

Game 2: Western Illinois 8 - Wichita State 5

Kind of a mirror image of Game 1.

Sloan started in the circle and was in a 3-3 tie going to the 5th where she ran into trouble giving up a 4 spot before Kaitlyn relieved her with 2 outs. But the damage was done as WIU took a 7-4 lead into the bottom of the 5th.

The Shocks had their chances scoring 1 in the 5th on a leadoff homer by PaigeL but left a total of 7 base runners stranded in the 5th, 6th and 7th. The Shocks did get the winning run to the plate but Kelli Spring ground into a force play at 2nd with the bases loaded to end the game as the Shocks record moves to 13-8 on the year.

WIU Line Score: 8R, 10H, 2E, 4LOB
WSU Line Score: 5R, 12H, 2E, 12LOB

As I mentioned in a previous post the strategy of giving up 7 or 8 runs and trying to outscore the opponent is generally not one that I believe will work well in the long run. Pitching continues to be the issue for the Shocks.

[flyingMoose]

Western Illinois 8-5 Shockers

The Westerwinds take the second game of the double header for a split of the two games. With Sloan getting the start and the game knotted at three going into the fifth (Cacy homered in the first, PaigeM homered in the second and an unearned run in the third for the Shocks), WIU put up four runs using a two-RBI double, sac fly and another RBI double. Kaitlyn had to get the last out of the inning. PaigeL homered in the bottom half to bring the score to 7-4.

The Westerwinds scored another in the top of the seventh. The Shocks tallied a run in the bottom of the inning on a bases-loaded single by Cacy, but we left the sacks full on a game-ending ground out.

Melanie had two doubles among her three hits and Cacy and PaigeM added singles to their home runs. Sloan took the loss, giving up eight hits and five earned runs in her four and two-thirds innings.

The Shockers open conference play this weekend with a series against Loyola.

EDIT: Oops, we crossed.

[1972Shocker]

The Shockers open conference play this weekend with a series against Loyola.

Loyola picked to finish 6th in the Valley pre-season poll, 2 spots ahead of the Shocks. If the Shocks are going to make a move up in the Valley standings they need to win 2 of 3 this weekend.