The North Platte Community College Knights Softball team were swept in a double header by the Barton Community College Cougars 9-3 and 9-1 on a cold and windy Thursday afternoon.
Knights Coach Janelle Higgins said that the temperature was in the low 30’s and there was a stiff 15 mile per hour wind.
“Some of our girls are not use to playing in this cold of weather.” Higgins said.
Game one started out with the Knights taking a 2-0 lead in the first. After Caroline Motis singled and Jazmin Chang was hit by a pitch, Brittney Odum doubled to drive Motis and Chang in. The Cougars tied the score in the first on a double by Jenna Hosey which scored Bailey Hensley who walked. The Cougars threatened to score in the third when they had the bases loaded. Shannon Lieber , the Knights pitcher was able to get out of the inning when Holly Posegate grounded out to Lieber to end the inning. The Knights took the lead in the fifth inning on a Brittney Odum home run to make the score 3-2. In the bottom of the fifth the Cougars did their damage. They scored four runs capped off by a three-run home run by Kylie Everil to give the Cougars the lead 6-3. They added three more runs in the sixth inning, including a two-run home run by Hensley.
Odum led the Knights offensively going 3-4 with two doubles and a home run. Odum knocked in all three runs and scored one run.
Shannon Lieber took the loss but pitched a complete game and allowed only two earned runs on seven hits..
In the second game, the Knights scored early to take the lead 1-0 on a single by Sara Villalobos, driving in Motis. The Cougars scored six runs in the second inning to blow the game open. Erica Harper hit a three-run home run to highlight the Cougar second. Posegate added a solo home run in the third inning and Hensley tripled and scored a run in the fourth.
Knights starting pitcher Baileigh Oleson took the loss for the Knights. Oleson pitched two innings, allowed four hits, six runs, zero runs were earned.
Villalobos went 2 for 2 from the plate and drove in the lone run for the Knights.
Barton pitcher Taylor Bugner pitched five innings and gave up one run on five hits to get the win.
Higgins said: “We are a young team and need to play through the kinks. Brittney had a good first game offensively and Shannon pitched well for us. We need to cut down on errors .”
The Knights had six errors on the day. All of them led to runs for Barton.
The Knights continue their southern road trip Friday when they travel to Denison, Texas to play Grayson College. Game times are at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m CST.