TOPEKA — Kristi Bredbenner’s eyes were still wide with wonder — pretty impressive considering what had opened them occurred more than three hours earlier.
The Emporia State softball coach was pleased with her team’s 2-0 and 8-5 victories over Washburn Thursday night.
She was still astounded, though, by Megan Davison’s solo home run in the fourth inning of Game One.
“Megan Davison,” Bredbenner said, her voice slowing, “hit the biggest bomb I’ve ever seen in my life.”
It might have only counted for a single run, but the deep shot to left field also seemed to turn the momentum toward ESU in the first game.
The Hornets led 1-0 in the fourth but were still struggling to get a good read on Washburn starter Kelly Swygert.
That was all until Davison’s second at-bat.
“I was seeing her pitches really well, and she was a little bit of a slower pitcher,” Davison said. “I knew that I had to just wait, wait, wait, and she threw it right down the middle.”
Davison made sure to make her pay.
The senior cleared much more than just the 12-foot fence — located 225 feet from home plate. She also knocked it three-fourths of the way up the hill behind the chain-link barrier.
“I don’t think I’ve ever felt like I did after hitting that one,” Davison said. “I definitely knew it was probably the hardest one I’ve ever hit.”
It was more than enough run support for Courtney Reed, who once again stepped into the role of the Hornet’s ace.
The senior pitched a complete-game shutout, allowing just a single hit against the potent Washburn offense.
“To be flat honest with you, I think they’re one of the best hitting teams in our conference,” Bredbenner said. “They’re probably the one that terrifies me the most, so these are huge wins.”
Reed struck out nine Lady Blues and walked four. Washburn entered the games with the highest batting average (.333) in the MIAA.
In the nightcap, ESU fell behind 2-0 before rallying.
The Hornets made their biggest move in the top of the third. Laura Pfautsch reached second on an error and moved to third on a grounder by Chelsea McClernon.
Playing for a single run, Bredbenner pinch hit Lacey Pendry for Jessie Wiard with one out.
After falling behind 0-2, the junior Pendry fouled off a pair of tough pitches and worked an eight-pitch walk.
“She has a great eye,” Bredbenner said. “I can always rely on her to get in there and have a great at-bat for us. It’s hard to come in there cold off the bench, but she does a great job.”
April Huddleston followed with an RBI single to right before Washburn called together a conference on the circle to discuss how to pitch Davison.
Whatever the plan was, it didn’t seem to work. Davison lined the first pitch to right field for a two-run triple, giving ESU its first lead at 3-2.
Following a groundout to the pitcher, Morgan Viola stepped in with a chance to score Davison with two outs.
She ended up doing even more than that.
Viola connected on a deep fly ball to left-center, and Washburn’s Ashley Webb ran at full speed to try to catch it in the gap.
After having the ball hit her glove and juggling it once, Webb lost control of it as she fell to the ground.
“Once I saw it go down,” Viola said, “I was just trying to hustle around the bases.”
The senior’s effort paid off, as she rounded the bags for a stand-up, inside-the-park home run that made it 5-2.
Samantha Sheeley picked up the win in Game Two, going 6 1/3 innings and allowing five runs. She kept the Lady Blues scoreless between the second and sixth innings. Reed came in for the save in Game Two.
ESU also helped itself by playing solid defense, committing no errors in the cold conditions. Washburn, meanwhile, had six errors that resulted in four unearned runs.
Viola led the offense in Game Two, going 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored.
Davison was 3-for-6 in the twinbill with three RBI. With 49 home runs in her career, she is now just two away from tying the MIAA record.
Wiard also contributed three hits despite an interesting Washburn defensive shift. The Lady Blues played their three infielders extremely shallow with the speedster up, as the WU shortstop and second baseman were nearly within arm’s length of the pitcher during Wiard’s at-bats.
Wiard got the last laugh in the second game, punching a single past the drawn-in infield in the fourth inning.
Thursday at Topeka
Game One
ESU 2, WU 0
Emporia State 010 100 0 — 2 6 0
Washburn 000 000 0 — 0 1 4
W — Reed. L — Swygert.
E — WU: Williams; DeVader; Daigh 2. DP — Lady Blues 1. LOB — Lady Hornets 10; Lady Blues 6. 2B — WU: Fellers. HR — ESU: Davison. HBP — WU: Hodge. SH — ESU: Huddleston; Campbell; Viola; Dace. SB — WU: Webb.
Game Two
ESU 8, WU 5
Emporia State 005 210 0 — 8 11 0
Washburn 200 000 3 — 5 9 2
W — Sheeley. L — Long. Sv — Reed.
E — WU: White; Daigh. DP — Lady Hornets 1. LOB — Lady Hornets 5; Lady Blues 6. 2B — ESU: Huddleston; Viola; Stevens; WU: Fellers; Williams; Daigh. 3B — ESU: Davison; WU: Tarbutton. HR — ESU: Viola. HBP — WU: Batres. SH — ESU: Pfautsch. SF — ESU: McClernon. SB — WU: Fellers