By: Jamal Smith Sports Editor
The change in the season from winter to spring, marks the beginning of softball season, and for the Wolves, the beginning of the season has been a flurry of activity.
WOU entered the West Texas A&M Lady Buff Invite Tournament on Friday, Feb. 19 with a record of 3-6, playing four games the first weekend and five the next.
The West Texas Tournament was by far the biggest test for Western in their young season; which required the Wolves to play two games on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday against different opponents.
The first double header pitted the Wolves against Newman University. Western swept the Jets, winning 2-0 in their first game and 4-3 in their second. Junior Destiny Kuehl (3B) scored both of Western’s runs in the first game, batting a perfect 3-for-3. In the second game, junior Kelsie Gardner (2B) scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning to clinch the victory.
On the second day of the West Texas Invite, the Wolves played against the home team: West Texas A&M. Western dropped their first game against the Buffs by a score of 9-1 and also loss their second game of the double header 6-7.
WOU got back on track on Sunday with a dominating performance in their double header against Lincoln University of Missouri. The Wolves won their first game against the Blue Tigers with a score of 9-1 and finished the second up 10-1. In the first game, freshman pitcher Haley Fabian, had a brilliant five inning performance, only allowing one hit while striking out three.
In the second game against the Blue Tigers, Gardner had three hits and Kuehl had three RBIs, but the entire team either had a hit, scored or had an RBI.
When the dust settled from the flurry of six games in three days, the Wolves found themselves with a 4-2 record in the tournament and improved their overall record to 7-8.
Western begins their GNAC conference schedule on March 5 with a double header against Saint Martin’s University. The first game starts 12 p.m. and the second is at 2 p.m. at the WOU Softball Field.
Contact the author at jsmith15@wou.edu or on Twitter @journalsports
