Monticello Live

Kayla Jackson threw her second no-hitter of the season the first of two wins over the Southwestern Oklahoma State Bulldogs, 3-0 and 3-2.

The UAM ace got her 25th win of the season in the seven-inning affair. She was two runners away from the perfect game, as the only blemishes on the day came in the third inning on a third-strike passed ball and a walk in the fourth inning.

UAM (34-12, 20-4 GAC) got one run in the second on a Katie Bowman single with Sara Matthews standing on third. They then got two more insurance runs in the third as Matthews drove in Jennifer Hickman and Maggie Sands with a single past the shortstop.

Jackson went seven innings with no hits and nine strikeouts in 23 batters-faced. Katie Raines took the loss for Southwestern (29-17, 13-13 GAC) in six innings of work, allowing the three UAM runs on 11 hits with one walk and no strikeouts.

She also threw game two, in preparation for next week’s GAC tournament, going seven more innings and getting her 26th win of the season. It didn’t go as smoothly, as the Bulldogs finally got a pair of hits in the first inning and scored two unearned runs thanks to an error by the Blossoms that put them in a 2-0 hole early.

UAM rallied back in the fourth inning with a two-hit, one-error inning of their own. Sara Matthews and Brittany Eitel drew back-to-back walks to start the inning and both would cross home plate before the final out of the frame. Katie Bowman brought in the first run on a fielder’s choice to short after an error by the SWOSU fielder. Maggie Sands drove in the tying run with a single to center that scored Eitel from third.

The game remained knotted at two into the bottom of the seventh, as Jackson surrendered just one more hit the rest of the day. Taylor Russell got a one-out double to right center to put herself in scoring position. Chasity Desselle pinch ran for Russell, advancing to third on a wild pitch, but was put out at the plate on the next play. But the bases were still loaded for Katie Bowman.

The senior got the winning run across thanks to a fielding error by the Bulldog second baseman that would have ended the threat and sent the game into extra innings. As it was, the error allowed Sara Matthews to score, ending the game 3-2.

The two teams will conclude the regular season tomorrow afternoon. The doubleheader is slated for a noon first pitch with Senior Day ceremonies taking place before the game at 11:30 a.m. The outcome of tomorrow’s games will determine the Blossoms’ seeding for the GAC Tournament next weekend in Bentonville.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 23rd, 2012 at 7:18 am and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.