WICHITA, Kan. — Taking the momentum from an extra-inning victory the night before, the Newman softball team jumped out to an early lead and grabbed a 3-0 win Saturday afternoon to win its Heartland Conference series against Texas A&M International.
The Jets (10-20, 3-6 Heartland) plated two runs in the first inning and added another in the second to build a lead that pitcher Kate Smith and the defense held on to despite numerous challenges from the Dustdevils (17-22, 6-6 Heartland).
Mikayla Medbery started the offense by reaching on an error to begin the bottom of the first, but was doubled off by a line drive on a nice play by TAMIU. That didn't stop the Newman rally though, as Taylor Mannis singled with two outs and Courtney Sartin followed by smacking the first pitch she saw down the right field line for a run-scoring triple to get the hosts on the board. An Alyssa Taylor single pushed Sartin across for a quick 2-0 lead.
Missy Swanson — who had the game-winning sacrifice fly in the 11th inning Friday night — started the second inning off with a walk, and was bumped up to second on Ellise McGowan's sac bunt, which allowed her to score easily when Kendra Mendoza smacked a double into the left field corner, making it a 3-0 advantage for the Jets.
The Dustdevils didn't go down without a fight, as they put runners on in each of the first six innings, cracking eight hits and getting a runner to at least second base on five occasions. Each time though, Smith, who tossed her third shutout of the season and didn't allow a walk, and her defense snuffed out the threat. The toughest was in the sixth, when TAMIU picked up back-to-back singles to get two on with no one out, but two straight popups to third and a strikeout stopped the Dustdevils, and Smith made six straight outs by setting the guests down in order in the seventh to lock up the win.
Taylor went 2-for-3 with her RBI single, while Mannis, Sartin, Delaney Hiegert and Mendoza each added a hit as the Jets have now won three of their past five games.
Newman will look to keep that hot streak going Tuesday, when it hosts Washburn in a nonconference doubleheader at 3 p.m.
