Williams, Westenkirchner Lead Eagles to Victory in Marathon Contest
April 9, 2005

By Paul Carmany, AU Sports Information

Complete Box Scores
Game 1         Game 2

With the 2005 edition of the Boston Marathon looming just nine days away, the Ashland and Saginaw Valley State softball teams decided to conduct a marathon of their own in the opening game of Saturday’s (Apr. 9) doubleheader at Brookside Park.

The 4-3 Eagles victory in 13 innings took longer to complete (2 hours, 58 minutes) than it will take a large portion of the Boston Marathon field to run 26.2 miles on Patriots Day, Heartbreak Hill and all.

Both teams’ hurlers did their best to keep their respective clubs alive, as only one earned run was scored in the contest and 31 total batters were fanned. The most impressive pitching performance came from AU sophomore Jaime Williams. Williams struck out an AU single-game record 20 batters while walking just one and yielding only four base hits in 13 innings.

Freshman first baseman Angie Westenkirchner finally ended the contest with a one-out single to right that plated pinch runner Amanda Ronk.

Ashland was able to carry that momentum in game two, scoring twice in the top of the first inning and going on for a much less eventful 3-1 victory.

The Eagles’ sweep gives AU a 21-13 overall record and evens its Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) mark at 4-4. The Cardinals fall to 11-12 overall and 2-4 in conference play.

Saginaw Valley State opened the scoring in game one when leadoff hitter Monica Sims doubled home Stephanie Sills in the top of the third.

Ashland answered an inning later when Kelli Williams knocked Abby Wuthrick home with a single.

The score remained deadlocked until the international tiebreaker was instituted in the 10th inning. It was in the bottom half of that frame that AU missed a golden chance to win the contest a bit sooner.

The Eagles matched the run that SVSU had posted in the top of the 10th and proceeded to load the bases for cleanup hitter Nicole Placie with nobody out. Placie grounded into a double play, taking the steam out of the Ashland rally.

The score was knotted at 3 in the top of the 13th inning when Jaime Williams recorded her 20th, and arguably most important, strikeout of the game, helping to keep Saginaw off the board and setting the stage for Westenkirchner’s heroics.

Westenkirchner and Bree Beabout each went 3-for-6 in the contest. Kelli Williams and Sara Mathes both recorded a pair of hits as well.

On the mound, Jaime Williams earned the win to improve to 13-5. Karen Ray, who came on in relief of Lorelea Rice in the 10th inning, lost to fall to 5-6.

In game two, Ashland, playing as the visiting team, scored twice in the opening inning. Placie recorded the first of her two doubles to score Beabout and then Kelli Williams singled Placie in.

That proved to be all the offense that freshman Jennifer Alderson would need. One day after recording her first career shutout, Alderson scattered four hits in a complete game victory, yielding only one unearned run.

Her teammates gave her a bit more insurance in the seventh inning, as Ashley Mayle singled home Michelle Congrove.

Congrove went 2-for-3 while Alderson helped her own cause with a pair of singles.

Alderson evened her record at 5-5 while Ray took her second loss of the day and now stands at 5-7.

Ashland, now on a three-game winning streak, will look to continue that run tomorrow (Apr. 10) at Brookside Park. The Eagles will host Lake Superior State (6-17, 1-5 GLIAC) for a doubleheader, beginning at 12 p.m.