WORTHINGTON -- The Minnesota West Lady Jays had a tough time against powerhouse Ridgewater Monday afternoon, dropping both games of the MCCC south softball doubleheader.
The Lady Jays (0-4) simply weren't ready to play the opener and fell by a score of 12-0 in five innings. In Game 2, the Lady Jays had runners on in the seventh inning, trailing 3-2, but couldn't get the tying run across.
"That's been our Achilles heel," MW head coach Rosalie Hayenga said. "We're committing too many errors early in games, and that puts us in a hole right away. We can't give them unearned runs like that and expect to come out on top.
"In Game 2, we got a quick 1-2-3 inning and turned around and scored in the first, which gave us some confidence," Hayenga added. "We improved in the last couple of innings of Game 1 and improved a ton in Game 2. We still have to hit the ball better if we're going to stay competitive."
The Warriors ace Callie Rittenour earned the victory in Game 1, scattering three hits over five innings while striking out three and walking one. Mel Anderson suffered the loss, allowing five earned runs on 11 hits while striking out one and walking three.
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The Warriors (6-0) jumped all over the Lady Jays to open Game 1 and capitalized on several errors to grab a quick 6-0 lead.
Anderson gave up only three hits in the inning, but errors cost the Lady Jays, who committed five in the first inning alone.
The Lady Jays didn't fare much better at the plate in the first, striking out twice.
"I think the fielding and hitting go hand-in-hand," Hayenga said. "Sometimes you go out, and you're out in the field for 10 minutes, and you've committed six errors, and they have six runs, and you lose a little confidence. When you don't field, it's harder to hit, and when you don't hit, it's harder to field. So, it's important, especially for this team, to get off to a solid start."
The Warriors scored just once in the second inning, as the Lady Jay defense stepped it up following a brief chat with Hayenga. The Minnesota West defense turned two double plays on the afternoon, as shortstop Ashley Neperman snared a low drive on the fly and fed Amanda Meyer at third to end the first inning, Meyer did the same with a shot in the fifth -- firing over to Dani Jo Thorson at first base to complete the play.
In the bottom of the inning, Neperman hit a lead-off single to left, but MW couldn't capitalize on the effort as Rittenour and the Warrior defense tightened things up in a hurry.
Anderson and the MW defense equaled Ridgewater's efforts in the top of the third, but the top of the fourth was another matter.
The Warriors scored six more runs on five hits in the inning to put the game out of reach.
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Despite two more hits from Ashley DeBates, the Lady Jays just couldn't break through for a run on Rittenour and took the 12-0 defeat.
In Game 2, the Lady Jays learned from their mistakes and took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
The Warriors responded by tying the game in the top of the second inning and took a 3-1 lead into the seventh inning with single runs in the fifth and sixth innings.
In the bottom of the seventh, Rosie Lewis knocked in Dani Moore to pull the Lady Jays within a run. But with runners on base, MW couldn't beat pitcher Heather Thoma and suffered the 3-2 loss.
Thoma gave up one earned run, while striking out four and walking one to earn the victory. Anderson again suffered the loss, but had a much better outing -- allowing one earned run on seven hits while striking out one and walking three.
The Lady Jays will host the Riverland Blue Devils in a Friday doubleheader.
Game 1 R H E
Ridgewater 610 50 -- 12 11 1
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MW 000 00 -- 0 3 7
Game 2 R H E
Ridgewater 010 011 0 -- 3 7 2
MW 100 000 1 -- 2 6 2
