Two bloop singles and a bad decision of her own put Paige Ladenburger in as difficult a situation as a freshman pitcher can be in.
No outs, bases loaded in the seventh innings, Ladenburger was clinging to what had seemed like a cushy 2-0 lead in the final inning on Monday afternoon against St. Edwards. The way the freshman responded showed her teammates and coach that she could be the clutch pitcher any team that has postseason aspirations needs.
Ladenburger got a ground out, a strikeout and another ground out to finish off a 2-0 victory and complete a two-game sweep of St. Edwards, which the 20th-ranked Hornets beat 10-2 in Game One.
“Her being a freshman, it shows she’s a little above the other freshmen, not in a bad way, but she’s definitely mentally tough,” senior third baseman Miranda Campbell said of Ladenburger. “You could just tell she was not going to let two runs score, you could see the look on her face. We have that confidence in her. She’s proven it to us, and we just have that confidence that she’s going to do whatever she can to get that out.”
The Hornets have had a similar determination during their current 10-game winning streak. Five of those wins have come by two runs or less, and even Game One — a run-rule victory in six innings — was tied through the first four innings.
“Right now we’re playing good softball,” coach Kristi Bredbenner said. “Even though it’s hard on my heart right now, we’re winning games and that’s what matters is we’re staying in there and coming away with the W. Sometimes it’s not pretty and sometimes it is, but we’re winning games and we’re finding ways to do it.”
In Game One, finding a way to win came down to figuring out St. Edwards pitcher Paige Sandahl.
Sandahl (12-5) no-hit the Hornets for the first three innings, and the game was tied 1-1 going into the fifth. Once Jessica Brewer stroked a two-out double in the fifth, the floodgates opened for the Hornets.
Abby Hughes followed with a triple; Campbell hit a two-run homer; Amanda Self singled, knocking Sandahl out of the game. Abby Smith and Katie Huffman welcomed reliever Diana Cezeaux to the game with back-to-back singles, scoring Self, and just like that the Hornets took a 5-1 lead.
“I thought they made some great adjustments at the plate,” Bredbenner said. “That pitcher really was only bringing a couple pitches for a strike each at-bat, and once we started capitalizing on those and capitalizing on the walks, we looked real good at the plate.”
The Hornets added five more runs in the sixth to end the game, the big hits coming from Linda Ketter and Angela Mahan, who started the inning with back-to-back doubles. Campbell singled to drive in two runs, giving her a game-high four RBIs. She would also drive in a fifth run for the day in Game Two on a sacrifice fly.
“Coach, whenever she moved me to four-hole three years ago, she talked to me about it. Whenever you’re in the four-hole, you’re in there to drive in runs,” Campbell said. “Sometimes this last game I kind of got out of that mindset, but it’s the mindset I have going up there, I’m up there with runner’s in scoring postion... as long as I get those runs in, I’m doing my job.”
Offense was hard to come by in Game Two, as Cezeraux bounced back from her rough outing in relief to hold the Hornets to four hits through six innings.
Cezeraux (8-6) might have pitched a shutout if not for Ketter reaching on an error to start the third inning. Brewer drove Ketter in with a triple. Hughes followed with a walk, and Campbell flied out to a center, which would have ended the inning if not for the error, but instead scored Brewer.
Ladenburger (7-3) was on her game, allowing just two hits and facing two over the minimum through the first six innings.
When Lisa Paul and Courtney Lavender opened the seventh for St. Edwards with two singles, Brianna Bozon tried to bunt the runners over, and Ladenburger made the mistake of trying to get the force-out at third base.
With the bases loaded, Ladenburger did not panic. She kept going after hitters and Miranda Yeager grounded to short. Hughes was able to get Paul for the force out at home. With the bases still loaded, Ladenburger got her sixth strikeout of the day against Natasha Marin.
With two outs, Stacy Giles grounded up the middle and the ball deflected off Ladenburger’s glove, and Hughes quickly scooped up the deflection and got the out at first to end the game.
“I just tried to stick with what I was doing the whole game, I know have a great team behind me, and they made some awesome plays to save the game,” Ladenburger said. “It’s just about having confidence and trusting yourself and trusting your team to get out of it.”
Game One starter Jennifer Heerey (9-1) also had a strong outing, giving up two runs on five hits in six innings.
Emporia State improved to 22-8 overall and 6-0 at home. St. Edwards dropped to 23-13. The Hornets travel to Newman on Wednesday for a doubleheader and are back at home on Friday for a doubleheader against Nebraska-Omaha.
Monday at Turnbull Field
Game One
St. Edwards 000 101 — 2 5 0
Emporia State 000 145 — 10 11 0
WP — Heerey. LP — Sandahl.
LOB — Hilltoppers 4, Hornets 8. 2B — SE: Bailey; ESU: Mahan, Brewer, Ketter. 3B — ESU: Hughes. HR — Campbell. SH — SE: Paul; ESU: Brewer. SF — Bozon. SB — SE: Acosta; ESU: Brewer. CS — SE: Bailey; ESU: Mahan.
Game Two
St. Edwards 000 000 0 — 0 4 1
Emporia State 002 000 X — 2 4 0
WP — Ladenburger. LP — Cezeaux.
E — SE: Bozon. DP — Hornets 1. LOB — Hilltoppers 5, Hornets 6. 3B — ESU: Brewer. SH — ESU: Smith. SF — ESU: Campbell. SB — SE: Bailey; ESU: Hughes, Heerey. CS — Giles.