The Baker Wildcats picked up their first win of the season Saturday against Fort Scott Community College as they won the second game of their doubleheader, 9-4.

It took the team seven innings to warm up, however, as the first contest was one to be forgotten – a 10-2 defeat. 

“We came out poorly in the first game,” sophomore Brooke Pryor said. “It was not so good. We didn’t show our talent at all.”

Fort Scott brought its bats early in the game, batting completely through its lineup in the second inning.

“They were hitting us pretty hard at first,” sophomore Katie Worley said. “We were surprised at how well they could hit.”

The Wildcats turned the tables on Fort Scott in the nightcap, however, as the team batted completely through its order midway through the contest and pounded the Greyhounds’ pitching.

“Overall I think we hit really well,” Pryor said. “We had 13 hits in the second game, so we were batting the ball fairly decent. Now we just need to string some hits together consecutively to produce more runs.”

Sophomore Amanda Phelps was effective on the mound for the ‘Cats, picking up her first win of the season while allowing four earned runs.

Phelps and sophomore Erin Ford are currently the only healthy pitchers in the rotation for the ‘Cats because junior transfer Chelsi Taylor is still out with a knee injury.

“It’s a struggle for our team right now because (Taylor) brings something different to the staff,” Pryor said. “She provides a variety of pitches that differ from the rest of our rotation. In softball, that versatility is important.”

The Wildcats’ defense held strong despite the thin pitching rotation.  

“Defensively we were pretty solid,” Phelps said. “We had a couple errors in the first game, but not too many in the second. Our (defense) was pretty steady. Me, as a pitcher, I gave up some hits, but the team played well enough to win.”

Freshman Brooke Allen provided the spark offensively for the Wildcats, batting 3-4 in the second contest.

The Wildcats used the momentum they garnered from the second game against Fort Scott when they hosted Haskell Indian Nations University Wednesday.

Baker dominated in the first game of the doublheader, as it run-ruled Haskell 9-1 in just six innings.

Phelps starred from the batter's box and from the mound in the contest, pounding a three-run home run in the third inning and registering a complete game. <br/>Phelps provided another stellar performance in the second game of the doubleheaderPhelps provided another stellar performance in the second game of the doubleheader
Phelps provided another stellar performance in the second game of the doubleheader

The team lost the second game 14-11 but battled through a rough start to make the game tight.

Down eight runs with the bases loaded in just the second inning, Phelps took the hill and got Baker out of a serious jam.  Despite having pitched the entire previous game, she finished the remaining five innings of the second game.

Sophomore Kim Gilges and Allen each registered multiple hits in the contest.