GREENVILLE, Ill. - Westminster softball dropped their first conference games of the season against Greenville.
The Blue Jays fall to 18-16 overall and 14-2 in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
"This was a tough day, and we were not prepared," said Westminster Head Coach Joe Henderson. "Emily Holloway and Callie Collier were outstanding at the plate, but we just could not adjust."
In game one, the Panthers started the scoring by adding their first two runs in the second inning on a solo homerun and an error by the Blue Jays, going up 2-0.
Westminster recovered in the third on an RBI double from Katie Price, but Westminster went on to allow five Panther runs in the third inning to fall to 7-1.
Two errors in the fourth and the seventh allowed the Blue Jays to score three more runs, but it wasn't enough to regain the lead, falling 7-4.
Price started on the mound and took the loss after pitching five innings, giving up five runs on eight hits, striking out five.
In game two, the game remained scoreless until the fourth, when Greenville broke open the scoring to go up 2-0.
Westminster was unable to answer in the top of the fifth, and Greenville added to the lead in the bottom of the inning to go up 4-0.
The Blue Jays responded in the sixth with three runs. Madison Washington delivered the big hit of the inning, driving a double to centerfield to score both Price and Amber Tepen. Mackenzie Myers added a single up the middle to score Washington and make the score 4-3.
After Emily Holloway doubled in the seventh to put the tying run in scoring position, the Blue Jays were unable to drive the run in, taking the 4-3 loss.
Madison Ingram took the loss to move to 6-7 on the year. She pitched 3.1 innings, giving up two runs on two hits. Price pitched in relief for 2.2 innings, giving up the final two runs.
"We left a lot of runners on base and our grueling schedule just caught up with us today," said Henderson. "We have to come out tomorrow for the No. 1 seed and the championship. Being tired and sore can't be an excuse, and we will work hard to finish."
Westminster plays Friday against Spalding. The squad must win at least one game to clinch a share of the conference title, and two wins would secure sole possession of the regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the SLIAC Tournament.
