PITTSBURG, Kan. — A stellar performance in the circle from Kate Smith pushed the Newman softball team to a victory as it split a nonconference doubleheader with Pittsburg State Wednesday afternoon.
The Jets (15-32) got a five-hit shutout from Smith and a solo home run to prove the difference in a 1-0 win in the opener against the Gorillas (34-16), who are receiving votes in the latest NFCA poll. The second game saw Newman take the lead in the fifth before the hosts rallied to go ahead and hold on for the split.
Smith didn't have much trouble through the first four innings, stranding three runners over the first two frames before sitting PSU down in order in the third and fourth. She ran into her first jam in the fifth, as runners reached first and third with one out, but a pop-up and a fly ball kept the game scoreless into the sixth.
Swanson led off the sixth and smacked the second pitch she saw over the fence in left to give the Jets the first lead of the day on the team's third and final hit of the game. The Gorillas stranded two in the bottom half, before Smith had to work through another jam to preserve the win in the seventh. Pitt State's leadoff batter reached on an error and was bunted up to second before reaching third on a wild pitch to put the tying run 60 feet away with two outs. The runner would be stranded there though, as a fly ball ended the game.
Smith scattered five hits and allowed just one walk to earn her fourth shutout of the year, stranding all eight PSU runners that reached base. In addition to Swanson's big swing, Courtney Sartin went 2-for-3 at the plate to pace the Jets.
Both offenses were a little more lively in the nightcap, with the hosts striking first with two runs in the bottom of the second. After struggling to get the bats going at first, Newman exploded at the plate in the fifth, as Rachael Withers started things off with an infield single and Delaney Hiegert reached on an error.
Taylor Mannis loaded the bases when another error allowed her to reach base with one out, and the Jets quickly took advantage. A Mikayla Medbery single pushed Withers home, and Swanson's sacrifice fly evened the score at 2-2. Facing two outs, Sartin laced a single to right and Adrienne Esposito provided a pinch-hit single, with both base knocks scoring runs to give the guests a 4-2 lead.
Pitt State answered right away in the bottom half though, pushing across four runs to take a 6-4 lead that would hold up when the Jets left the bases loaded in the top of the seventh.
Medbery was 3-for-3 with a walk and an RBI in the finale, while Sartin added a 2-for-4 game to finish the day with four hits.
The Jets return home for their final Heartland Conference series in Wichita Friday and Saturday against Oklahoma Panhandle State.
