March 10 Independence Community College at Excelsior Springs, Missouri
The State Fair Community College (SFCC) Lady Roadrunners split a doubleheader against the Independence Community College Pirates on Sunday, March 10. SFCC won the first game 8-0 in five innings and lost game two in 10 innings 8-7.
Sophomore pitcher/first baseman Madison Love of Holts Summit, Missouri made some history from the circle, throwing the first no-hitter in the history of the SFCC softball program. Love only needed 72 pitches to complete the historic outing. She struck out 10 and walked only three batters.
"Madison was able to stay ahead in the count," said Lady Roadrunners Softball Head Coach Lyndsey Talbot. "Independence also struggled to catch up to her velocity."
Sophomore infielder Abby Rector of Raytown, Missouri led the SFCC offense with a pair of doubles. She drove in three runs and scored twice. Sophomore outfielder Jacki Watson of Raytown, Missouri also contributed a pair of hits, including a triple. She also scored a run and drove in a run. Freshman pitcher/infielder Alissa Collette of Strafford, Missouri added a double and an RBI. Love helped herself at the plate with a double and an RBI.
In game two, Watson led the offense with three doubles and three runs batted in. Sophomore catcher/infielder Lauren Watkins of Columbia, Missouri also registered three hits, including a home run, two runs scored and an RBI. Freshman catcher/utility player Jordan Fischer of New Florence, Missouri had a pair of hits, including a home run and a run batted in. Sophomore middle infielder Brytni Hummel of Garden City, Missouri hit a solo home run. Freshman utility player Braleigh Johnson of California, Missouri drove in a run.
"We struggled defensively in game two," said Talbot. "Our pitchers got a lot of ground balls. We made some errors that gave up extra bases, you can't do that when you're playing behind pitchers who are trying to get ground balls."
Freshman pitcher/utility player Abby Rapp of Stewartsville, Missouri got the start in the circle for SFCC. She pitched four innings and allowed four runs, three earned and struck out two. Love took the tough loss in relief for SFCC. She pitched 4.2 innings, struck out 11 and allowed no hits. The game was decided by the International Tie-Breaker. Independence scored a run courtesy of an error to win game two.
March 11 Kansas City Kansas Community College at Kansas City, Kansas
The Lady Roadrunners traveled to Kansas City, Kansas to take on KCKCC on Monday, March 11. The teams split a pair of games. SFCC won game one 7-0. Kansas City Kansas took game two 10-2.
In game one, Johnson hit a homerun for SFCC. She also drove in four runs. Watkins added a double with a run scored and two RBIs. Rector had a hit, and two runs scored, and an RBI. Watson scored a run and walked three times. Love pitched in with a hit and a run scored. Fischer also contributed a hit and a run scored.
"The home run that Braleigh hit was very timely," said Talbot. "We are doing things right offensively, we just have to become more consistent."
SFCC got another outstanding pitching performance from Love. She only allowed two hits, struck out 15 and only walked two batters.
In game two, the SFCC offense was held to just two runs on three hits. Sophomore utility player Emily Wilson of Oak Grove, Missouri had a double and a run scored. Hummel had a triple and two RBIs. Rector also had a run scored.
Rapp got the start in the circle for SFCC. She pitched four and one-third innings and took the loss. Rapp gave up 10 runs, however, only two of them were earned.
SFCC is now 5-5 on the year.
David Rohrbach
SFCC Athletics