Three home runs was all it took for the Baker University softball team to break the university’s record for most single home runs in a season.
The record was broken Wednesday when Baker beat Haskell Indian Nations University 8-0 in five innings and 7-0 in seven innings.
“I was a little worried that we might be looking past Haskell and looking forward to MidAmerica (Nazarene University), but we played well, and we hit the ball well,” head coach Matt Windle said.
Freshman Renata Dill and juniors Brittany Vollenweider and Brooke Allen hit home runs for the Wildcats.
Allen had a total of four runs scored in the two games, and leads the team in batting average and total hits. Senior Katie Worley also had two runs in the first game.
“The girls are putting in the work and they’re leaving a mark on the school,” Windle said.
Freshman Maggie Holmberg is also leaving a mark by being named Heart of America Athletic Conference pitcher of the week.
Holmberg earned a 0.67 ERA for the week of March 19. She has pitched 11 games and 54.2 innings, and leads the team with a 1.66 ERA for the season.
Vollenweider said the underclassmen on the team have played big roles this season and continuously have been stepping up to make contributions to the team.
“They’re big contributors to our success, and they have a lot of potential to grow and help our team further,” Vollenweider said.
The Wildcats defeated Missouri Valley College 3-0 and 4-2 Sunday after getting on the field just as the snow began to fall.
“We played really well, especially considering how cold it was,” freshman Erin Greenwood said.
Allen had two runs in the first game against Missouri Valley. Junior Annie Hannon had a run in each game.
Baker has a season record of 15-9 and is on an eight-game winning streak.
“We’re just having great team chemistry. It doesn’t matter who is on the field, we’re out there to win and own it,” Vollenweider said.
The Wildcats play MidAmerica Nazarene University at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Friday at Cavaness Field. The ‘Cats and the Pioneers will enter the game with a tie for first in the HAAC with conference records of 4-0.
“We’re looking forward to seeing if we can’t take a game or two from MidAmerica,” Windle said.
