MORGANTOWN — The University High School softball team earned two hard-fought victories in one day over the visiting Oak Glen Golden Bears Saturday. Both games came down to the wire and had a little bit of everything, including extra innings.
The Hawks (4-2) won game one 6-4 in dramatic fashion with a walk-off three-run home run hit by senior shortstop Lauren Huebsch. She hit three total across the two games.
Game two had a hard act to follow and delivered with an extra-inning thriller that took 10 innings before a winner was decided. UHS took game two 10-9 after a fierce comeback by OG in the bottom of the seventh inning that took the game to extras in the first place.
“I think that we are coming along and starting to string together some hits on offense,” UHS coach Mindy Parks said after the game two victory. “The batting lineup is getting figured out and we had a starter out today with an illness and some players were out of position today but we are figuring it out so far.”
Oak Glen, one of the more successful softball programs in the state, jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in game one in just the second inning. Huebsch responded with her first homer of the day, a solo shot over the left field fence. Sophia Lehosit then tripled, but a double play by the Golden Bears on the next batter ended the inning.
It wouldn’t take long for the Hawks to get the bats going again, as two more runs in the bottom of the third knotted the game at three a piece.
Neither team would score from that point until the top of the seventh when OG took a 4-3 on a wild pitch by UHS freshman Maddie Campbell.
But two base hits in the bottom of the seventh brought Huebsch to the plate with just one out, and she hit her second home run of the game. This one a walk-off to win 6-4.
“The biggest thing with our team right now is our versatility in our pitching,” Parks said. “I tried to mix it up with starting our second pitcher, then bringing in our number one (Campbell) later in the game. We did that in both games today and I think it worked out. She seemed to do well closing the game and now has four wins this year.”
Campbell, just a freshman, pitched 12 total innings for UHS over the two games on Saturday. She only gave up one earned run and struck out 11 batters (six in game one and five in game two).
In game two, UHS lead 8-5 after three runs in the top of the seventh inning. But the Golden Bears matched the runs and pushed the game into extra innings.
After a scoreless eighth and ninth inning, the Hawks pushed a go-ahead run across the plate after an overthrow by the OG catcher trying to throw Ally Jansen at third base out. The ball sailed over the head of the third baseman, allowing Jansen and Kennadi Barnhart to score on the play.
The Golden Bears cut the lead to 10-9 in the bottom of the tenth but were unable to find another. The Hawks took the sweep over Oak Glen 6-4 and 10-9.
Game 1
University 6, Oak Glen 4
OG 210 000 1 – 4 6 1
UHS 012 000 3 – 6 9 0
OG – Brown 3 1 1 1, Kell 2 1 2 1, Brown 3 0 0 0, Munoz 2 0 1 0, Smith 3 0 1 1, Murray 3 0 0 0, Balch 2 0 0 0, Holder 1 0 0 0, Wright 2 1 1 0, Bruce 2 0 0 0
UHS – Campbell 4 1 2 0, Royce 4 1 1 0, Masoner 3 0 1 0, Huebsch 4 2 2 4, Lehosit 3 0 1 0, Jansen 3 0 0 0, Weaver 3 0 2 0, Barnhart 2 1 0 0, Park 2 1 0 0
3B: UHS – Lehosit
HR: UHS – Huebsch (2); OG – Brown
WP – Campbell 4.0ip, 2h, 1r, 3bb, 5k
LP – Kell 6.1ip, 9h, 6r, 3bb, 11k
Game 2
University 10, Oak Glen 9 F/10
UHS 004 010 300 2 – 10 12 3
OG 310 010 300 1 – 9 14 4
UHS – Campbell 6 1 2 0, Weaver 5 1 0 0, Masoner 6 2 3 1, Huebsch 3 3 2 2, Lehosit 5 1 2 4, Park 5 0 1 0, Jansen 3 1 1 0, Barnhart 4 1 1 0, Royce 4 0 0 0
OG – Brown 5 1 3 1, Kell 5 1 2 1, Brown 5 0 3 2, Munoz 6 1 1 3, Smith 6 0 1 0, Murray 3 2 2 0, Balch 4 0 1 0, Wright 4 1 0 0, Bruce 4 2 1 1
2B: UHS – Park; OG -Brown, Murray
3B: UHS – Masoner; OG – Kell
HR: UHS – Huebsch, Lehosit; OG – Munoz
WP – Campbell 8.0ip, 11h, 5r, 5bb, 6k
LP – Murray 10.0ip, 12h, 10r, 5bb, 8k
