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Lady Tigers look sharp as they deal Clinton 6-3 defeat
It was a good day for Nevada Lady Tigers softball Thursday afternoon at Bushwhacker Field.
Behind Kylie Boyd's strong outing in the circle, Nevada put together arguably its best performance of the season, derailing the Clinton Lady Cardinals 6-3. Clinton entered the contest 5-0 in the West Central Conference. Meanwhile, the Lady Tigers improve to 3-1 in the WCC and 6-12 overall.
"I think we're playing great right now," NHS head coach Tammy Holcomb said. "One of the most important things tonight was the teamwork. It was a team effort all the way around. We were putting the ball in play from the top of the lineup to the bottom. Defensively, we had a lot of people involved and everybody was doing their job."
With the contest knotted 1-1, the Lady Tigers broke the game open with a five-run third inning. The impressive two-out rally started with a Boyd single to left field off Clinton's southpaw ace Gentry Wishard. Following Boyd, first baseman Emily Johnson fouled off several pitches before drawing a walk to put runners on first and second.
With two on, freshman Hailee Lundine drilled a Wishard offering into the left-center field gap, plating Boyd and Johnson as the Lady Tigers led 3-1.
After reaching on a triple in the second inning, Nevada catcher Cameron Holcomb dropped a bloop single into right-center field, scoring Lundine to hand the Lady Tigers a three-run advantage.
Freshman Jaedenn Highley kept the line moving with an RBI-single, scoring Holcomb from second base as Nevada went on top 5-1. The inning's final run came on a McKenzie Cox fly ball, misplayed in left field, scoring Highley all the way from first base as Nevada led 6-1.
"We know putting the ball in play keeps the pressure on the defense, and that's what we did," Tammy Holcomb said.
The Lady Cardinals trimmed the lead to 6-2 in the top of the fifth, courtesy of a Wishard opposite field RBI-double.
Still leading 6-2 entering the top of the seventh, Boyd got off to a rocky start, yielding three consecutive singles to Hannah Adams, Sam Campbell, and Alaina Pogue. Pogue's base hit plated Adams, as Clinton trailed 6-3.
After a mound visit by Tammy Holcomb, Boyd regrouped, shutting the door on Clinton. After a groundout and strikeout, Macy Mitchell grounded to shortstop Sarah Creasy, who flipped to second baseman Maggie Leisure for the game's final out.
"(During the mound visit) we talked about we just needed an out at that point," Holcomb said. "I think Kylie did a fantastic job today."
Holcomb said that her squad his peaking at the right time.
"Over the last couple of weeks, we have been playing our best ball of the season," she said.
Up next
Nevada travels to Warrensburg for Saturday's West Central Conference Tournament. The Lady Tigers then return to Bushwhacker Field for its regular season finale Monday against the Pleasant Hill Chicks.