Great Bend Post
The Western Athletic Conference has proven a worthy foe for the Lady Panther softball team. Great Bend dropped three games to Hays last week, and after a win at Liberal, lost three-straight to Garden City this week. The Lady Panthers traveled to Garden City Thursday where they were defeated 7-4 and 11-2 to drop to 7-9 on the season.
Game one was decided in the sixth inning. Garden City led 2-0 after one, but the Lady Panthers took a 3-2 lead in the third inning. The Lady Buffs tied it up in the bottom of the third, then plated four runs in the decisive sixth.
DeShawnna Bryant's 3-run homer in the third inning was the highlight in a game that featured just four Lady Panther hits. Katherine Mazouch singled twice, and Kamryn Koelsch added the other single. Great Bend batters struck out 13 times.
Just two of the seven runs against Paige Thexton were earned in the loss. The junior struck out four, walked three, and allowed eight hits in six innings of work.
Reigning WAC Player of the Year Brie Manwarren was again dominant in game two, holding the Lady Panthers to just five hits. Great Bend scored both of its runs in the first three innings but still trailed 3-2 after three before the Lady Buffs piled on seven runs in the fifth and one more in the sixth.
Thexton doubled and drove in a run. Bryant, Halle Post, Alyssa McCauley, and Prilling added the other hits, all singles.
The freshman pair of McCauley and Braelyn Turner pitched all six innings. McCauley recorded the first five outs, allowing three earned runs on four hits. Turner pitched two shutout innings before the floodgates opened in the fifth. She walked nine and struck out three, allowing seven earned runs on four hits in 4.1 innings of work.
The Lady Panthers take some time off before their final two doubleheaders of the regular season. Action resumes next Friday with a double-dip at McPherson.