Error-free, amassing a total of 18 hits and compiling 19 runs, the Trinity Lutheran softball team played with confidence Saturday.
The doubleheader with Shoals was moved to Seymour due to poor field conditions, and the Cougars took advantage, winning the first game 9-3 and dominating in the second 10-0 in a five-inning run-rule game.
“We came out with a little bit of a slow start, but we hit the ball and executed well,” Cougars coach Chad Goecker said. “No errors today, which is a great improvement over our first game where we had five. We cleaned that up. I thought the girls did a great job with being moved around to different positions throughout the game.”
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In the first game, the Jug Rox and the Cougars stood tied at 1-1 after one inning.
The Cougars opened up the lead in the third, putting up three runs while holding the Jug Rox scoreless.
Both squads added a single run in the fourth inning.
The fifth inning witnessed the Cougars tack on four runs to the Jug Rox’s one.
The Cougars cruised the rest of the way to pick up the opening victory.
Cougars senior Kaitlyn Wright was the winning pitcher, completing five innings with one strikeout, five hits, two walks and three runs.
Following a 30-minute intermission, the Cougars looked to put the second game away quickly.
Senior Natalie Plofkin drilled a two-RBI double, following two walks, to give the Cougars a 2-0 lead. Wright followed with a sacrifice RBI to put the Cougars up 3-0 after one.
Plofkin, on the mound, struck out two batters to quickly end the second inning.
An RBI bunt single from sophomore Taylor Russell, which resulted in a Jug Rox error, allowed a 4-0 Cougars lead in the bottom of the third.
Following a double from Plofkin, junior Taylor Reynolds blasted a two-RBI triple to center field.
Reynolds came in off a wild pitch, as the Cougars led 7-0 after three innings.
In the fourth inning, the Cougars scored on an RBI bunt from Russell and a Plofkin sacrifice RBI.
With the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth, sophomore Brittany Ross hit an RBI single to end the game by the run rule.
On the mound, Plofkin went four innings, compiling five strikeouts, one hit and zero walks.
“They’re two wins that we should have,” Goecker said. “It’s good the girls came out and did what we were supposed to do.”
With their victories, the Cougars move to 3-0 on the season.