Broncos Go 1-1 on Saturday, Pick Up Run-Rule Win over Patriots

(Branson, MO) – On day two of the Branson Grand Slam tournament, the Hastings College Broncos faced off against the Williams Baptist Eagles. The Eagles started off strong by scoring the first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning. 

The Broncos responded in the top of the second inning with junior Katyn Kappler stepping up to the plate with bases loaded, she singled to the left center, allowing senior Lexie Mudloff and junior Ana Medeiros to hit home base to make it 2-1. 

The Eagles fired back by getting six hits and scoring 6 more runs in the bottom of the second inning, and scoring another run in the bottom of the fourth inning to go up 8-2. 

In the top of the fifth inning, sophomore Kaylee Pinneo hit a ground ball and reached on an error with nobody out, as senior Lauren Schneider scored on the play from third. Schneider had previously doubled and advanced to third on a passed ball.

Williams Baptist made their final mark of the game by scoring three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, making the final score 11-3 by run rule. 

In their second game of the day against Mission (MO) in Branson, Hastings got off to a fast start by scoring four runs in the bottom of the first inning. With one out, Schneider singled and stole second, then Pinneo reached first on a fielding error by the Patriots. Junior Lauren Lee walked to load the bases and all three moved up a base on a wild pitch, scoring Schneider to go up 1-0.

Still with only one out, Medeiros walked and Mudloff singled up the middle to score two. After a walk and a fielder's choice, senior Shey Storesund struck a ball to short, moving everyone up a base and scoring Mudloff to put the Broncos up 4-0.

Hastings got four more in the second inning as Lee hit a one-out double with Pinneo on first, putting two in scoring position for Medeiros, who knocked in both runs with a base hit to left. With two outs and a runner on third, Kappler laced an RBI-double down the left field line and sophomore Maggie McClain followed her up with a single up the middle to score Kappler and take an 8-0 lead.

The third inning brought two more runs for Hastings, as senior Isabel Tanabe singled and took second on a wild pitch to start the inning, then scored on a double from Pinneo. With two outs, junior Kyla Humphries drove in Pinneo, leading to a 10-0 lead after three.

Mission got on the board in the top of the fifth after a leadoff triple turned into a run to make it a 10-1 final. Junior pitcher Kiera Brack got the win by allowing just the one late earned run on four hits, striking out five without a walk.

Schneider, McClain, and Tanabe each recorded two hits and Medeiros and Mudloff each drove in two runs, as Hastings had 14 hits in their four innings of offense in the win.

Up next, Hastings will begin their conference season with a home-opening double-header against Northwestern beginning on Friday, Mar. 14 at 12pm.