The Baker University softball team’s three-day homestand included two walk-off doubles from sophomore Alyse Menghini, three home runs from senior Summer Kelley and 31 innings pitched by junior Erin Greenwood en route to a 4-2 record in six games.
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The Wildcats began their homestand Friday with a doubleheader against MidAmerica Nazarene University. MNU kept Baker off the scoreboard for the first six innings of game one, as the Wildcats trailed 2-0 in the bottom of the seventh. Freshman Ilona Miller pulled the Wildcats within 2-1 with an RBI groundout, but Baker needed a two-out rally to stay alive. The Wildcats did just that as junior Renata Dill singled, Greenwood walked and then Menghini drove them in for the 3-2 walk-off win.
The Pioneers got their revenge in the second game, piling up runs early to put the Wildcats into a 4-0 hole by the end of the second inning. There was no comeback in this one as Baker lost 13-4 to split the series with MNU.
The Evangel University Crusaders came to town Saturday boasting a 21-7 record going into the doubleheader. The first game featured the Heart of America Athletic Conference’s top two pitchers in Evangel’s Lenzie Boring and Greenwood. The pitching battle was won by Boring, as she gave up only one run off of a Kelley solo home run in a complete game, 4-1 victory. Greenwood tallied 16 strikeouts in her six innings pitched, but allowed three runs in the sixth that decided the game.
In the second game, Greenwood returned to top form. She posted another complete game shutout, making it the sixth time she has gone the distance without giving up an earned run. She also went 2-3 from the plate. Kelley homered again off of Boring, to give her her first loss in the last six decisions. Dill also drove in a run, and went 2-3 in the game.
The Wildcats’ stretch of games ended on Sunday as they hosted Missouri Valley College. Greenwood pitched another complete game, giving up three runs, two of them earned and batted 3-4, including her first home run of the season. She also scored the game-winning run off of Menghini’s second walk-off hit of the weekend.
In the Wildcats' final game of the weekend, they completed the sweep of Missouri Valley, winning 5-3. After a scoreless first three innings, Missouri Valley hit a three-run home run in the top of the fourth to go up 3-0.<br/>
Baker immediately responded, scoring four runs in the bottom of the fourth, including Mallorie Nelson taking the Vikings’ Ashley Cobern deep on a two-run blast for her first collegiate home run. Another Wildcat run in the fifth brought the game to its final margin, 5-3.
The three-game winning streak put the Wildcats’ record at 18-10, including a second place 10-4 in conference play.