Lady Wolverines drop both games in doubleheader

The Lady Wolverines trekked to Caldwell for a doubleheader against the Cougars last weekend, after a weather cancellation at Nampa Christian earlier in the week.

 The Wolverines wasted no time getting on the board with 2 runs by Alex Bittinger and Westi Walker off of walks and batted in by Kali Branstetter.  However, Whitney Cordes and Branstetter were left stranded at the end of the at-bat.  

 Strong defense by the Wolverines with two quick outs was followed by a pair of walks by Cordes, in the circle, but the Wolverines stopped any runs with a ground out at first base.

 Three quick outs in the top of the second inning put the Wolverines back on defense, but they allowed no Cougars on base with two ground outs and a fly out.

 A single by Branstetter in the third wasn’t enough to add to the score, as a trio of Wolverine outs left Branstetter stuck.  The Cougars managed to get 6 runners on base in their at-bat, but the Wolverines ramped up their defense, allowing only 2 runs and tying the game 2-2.

 The Wolverine batters struggled in the fourth inning, suffering two quick outs with only Bittinger making it to base on a hit by pitch. 

 Unfortunately, she was unable to advance with a strikeout by Walker. The Wolverines made a personnel change in the pitching circle, and unfortunately the Cougars were able to find their mark against freshman Kaija Thompson, scoring 15 runs on 13 hits and 4 walks.  

 Trailing 17-1, the Wolverines had their backs against the wall as they faced a potential mercy rule, and a hit by pitch for Cordes gave her a free base and the Wolverines a chance to get some runs on the board. A double by Jakaela Ruiz brought Cordes in for the score, but a pair of strikeouts and a ground out gave the game to the Cougars in 4½ innings, 17-3.

 Branstetter led the Wolverines with 2 hits, while  J. Ruiz, Cordes and Shalee Huggins all had one hit each. Bittinger, Walker and Cordes all came across the plate to score. Cordes took the loss with 5 hits, and 4 walks, while Thompson, in relief, had 11 hits and 4 walks.

 The second game of the doubleheader was all about redemption for the Wolverines, and they jumped to an early four run lead. Cordes, J. Ruiz and Branstetter all got their bats working with singles, and Makaela Ruiz took one for the cause with a hit by pitch and Madison Phillips walked on balls.  

 With the bases loaded, Branstetter’s single to the shortstop enabled Cordes to score, and  Phillips walk brought M. Ruiz across the plate. J. Ruiz scored on a wild pitch and Mecarte Olsen batted in Branstetter before the Cougars ended the Wolverines at-bat.  

 Branstetter took her place in the circle for the Wolverines, striking out two of the four batters that she faced in the first inning, and despite a walk, the Wolverine defense didn’t allow any runs.

 A single to left field by M. Ruiz and a walk for J. Ruiz put Wolverines on base, but they were left stranded and scoreless in the second.  The Cougars managed to get runners on base off of two hits, a walk and a series of errors, allowing the Cougars to tie the game 4-4.

 Phillips made it to base with a single, and was batted in by Erika Tyree to retake the lead 5-4. With Cordes in the circle as relief for Branstetter, Cougar batters got on base with a triple, a walk and a hit by pitch, but the Wolverines allowed only one runner to score, tying the game again 5-5.

 Branstetter hit a shot to deep right field in the fourth inning, but the Wolverines were unable to get any runners across the plate to retake the lead. However, the Cougar bats got hot in their fourth inning at-bat and scored 9 runs on 4 hits.

 With a 14-5 scoring deficit, the Wolverines again had to make something happen late in the game to prevent the mercy rule, and Tyree ripped a shot over the left field fence, but the surge was short-lived with a trio of strikeouts behind her. The Cougars added another three runs to their credit, taking the game 17-6 in five innings.

 Branstetter led the Wolverines with 2 hits and 1 run, followed by Cordes, M. Ruiz, J. Ruiz, Phillips and Tyree all with one hit and one run each. Olsen and Erke each had a hit.