WICHITA, Kan. —On a very windy Saturday afternoon, the Newman softball team went up against William Jewell in a nonconference doubleheader at home, with each team earning a win.
 
The Newman offense was clicking in the first game, cranking out its top mark of the season with 15 hits and reaching double digits in runs for the second time this year.
 
Jensen Cromer got things going in the bottom of the first, cranking her first home run of the season over the fence in center to lift the Jets to a 3-0 advantage early. A solo homer and a two-run triple out of the Cardinals in the next frame helped tie it up, but the hosts got right back on the board.
 
Taylor Mannis doubled in Bayley Horsch and Rachael Withers to put Newman back up for good, and Cromer added a triple in the third to boost it to 6-3. The Jets added to their lead in the fifth and sixth, and despite William Jewell scratching across a run in the top of the seventh, held on for the comfortable win.
 
Cromer led the way at the plate, going 3-for-3 with the home run and triple, scoring three runs and knocking three in. The senior also went the distance in the circle, giving up six hits and two walks while striking out seven to earn her first win of the season.
 
Kate Smith was the starting pitcher for Newman in Game 2 of the doubleheader and held the Cardinals scoreless in the first-three innings of the contest. Cromer would be the first Jet runner to get on base in the bottom of the second with a single up the middle but was left stranded at first base as the second inning ended.
 
The Jets had runners at first and second with two outs in the bottom of the third inning but could not get them across as the score would be 0-0 heading into the top of the fourth. The Cardinals scored first run of the game in the top of the fourth to go up 1-0 and tacked on another run in the fifth to extend their lead out to 2-0.
 
It would be quiet for both teams in the sixth inning but William Jewell added four runs to its lead in the seventh to go up 6-0. The Jets wouldn't go down without a fight, scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh, first off a Mikayla Medbery RBI single and then a Cromer double to center field to score Medbery to put the final score at 6-2 in favor of the Cardinals.
 
Cromer finished the day 5-of-7 from the plate with three RBIs, three runs, one home run, one triple and one double, while also earning her first win of the season in the circle in Game 1.
 
The Jets are back in action on Tuesday at home in a nonconference doubleheader against Fort Hays State, starting at 2 p.m.