MORGANTOWN — There are good starts and there are great starts. The University softball team got off to a great start in its Class AAA Region I, Section 2 tournament opener against Bridgeport Monday evening on Lynch Field.
How great? The Hawks (16-9) scored 10 runs before recording an out in the bottom of the first inning en route to an 18-5 mercy ruling.
In its first 10 plate appearances, UHS drew six walks, had three hits and reached on a dropped third strike. Lexi Elza’s flyball that was caught in center field for the first out of the inning still drove in a run as Adalyn Brown tagged up and ran in from third base.
Patience was key for the Hawks on Monday as Bridgeport (5-17) issued 10 free passes in the game.
“(Hitters) do get anxious because it’s a slower speed, so you just tell them to be patient,” UHS coach Mindy Parks said. “At first you take (a pitch) to see, then you have to wait back. I think it is a hard adjustment.”
Ally Jansen’s three-run home run was the Hawks’ final hit in the bottom of the first and made the score 13-0. Maddie Campbell cruised through two innings in the circle yielding just one hit and one walk while punching out five.
After another trip through University’s order produced three more runs and a 16-0 lead, Parks subbed out eight of the nine starters for younger players.
“It was a nice opportunity to get all the freshmen in,” Parks said. “I want to give them experience so this was a time to do it. I told them it’s the section (tournament) so they’ve still got to play hard.”
The Hawks’ backups played well after being subbed in, particularly on defense. Shyann Mayle made a pair of nice running catches in left field in the top of the third inning. They even added to the lead when Kylin Oliveto tripled home Maddie Walls and then scored herself on a passed ball.
Carley Voithofer pitched the final three innings, giving up five runs on four hits with five strikeouts.
“There wasn’t a whole big difference, I thought they did well,’ Parks said. “(Voithofer) did fine, just a couple of pitches didn’t hit their spots.”
Bridgeport got on the board in the top of the fifth on a bases-loaded three-run double by Sadie Hamrick and a two-run home run from Kileigh Pugh.
For University, Campbell went 3-3 at the plate with a double, three runs scored and four RBI. Jansen also drove in four runs and scored twice. Brown scored three times, walking in all three plate appearances.
University will host Buckhannon-Upshur, an 18-2 winner over Preston, in the second round of the section tournament on Tuesday at 5 p.m.
BOX SCORE
University 18, Bridgeport 5
BDPT 000 05 — 5 5 2
UHS (13)32 0x — 18 8 0
BRIDGEPORT (5-17) — Anderson 3 1 1 0; Kwiatkowski 2 1 1 0; Hamrick 3 1 2 3; Pugh 2 1 1 2; Gibson 3 0 0 0; Wolfe 1 0 0 0; Prescott 1 0 0 0; Veigel 2 0 0 0; Lynch 1 0 0 0; Shafer 0 1 0 0; Pethtel 1 0 0 0; Corder 1 0 0 0. Totals 20 5 5 5.
UNIVERSITY (16-9) — Brown 0 3 0 1; Oliveto 1 1 1 1; Elza 1 2 0 1; Mayle 1 0 0 0; Campbell 3 3 3 4; Voithofer 1 0 1 0; Phillips 3 2 0 0; Lehosit 1 1 0 1; Cox 1 0 0 0; Jansen 2 2 1 4; Haney 1 0 0 0; Royce 1 1 1 2; Sockett 1 0 0 0; Weaver 1 1 1 1; Stevens 1 0 0 0; Park 1 1 0 0; Walls 0 1 0 0. Totals 20 18 8 15.
2B: Bridgeport (Anderson, Kwiatkowski, Hamrick) UHS (Campbell)
3B: UHS (Oliveto)
HR: Bridgeport (Pugh) UHS (Jansen)
WP: Campbell 2ip, 0r, 1h, 1bb, 5k
LP: Pethtel 1ip, 15r, 5h, 9bb, 1k
