17-run outburst snaps short skid

GULF SHORES, ALA. – Four Morningside University batters turned in multi-RBI contests Saturday, March 5, guiding National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics No. 20-ranked Morningside University past Williams Baptist. 

Sophomore first baseman Kennedee Jones (Ankeny, Iowa) tallied three hits and drove in three, leading a 16-hit attack that featured 14 runs over the first three innings en route to a 17-6, five-inning triumph. Junior second baseman Sydney Petersen (Omaha, Neb.) added three safeties, including a double and triple and two RBI; senior third baseman Morgan Nixon (Omaha, Neb.) drove in two behind two hits; and sophomore Emma Christensen (Sergeant Bluff, Iowa) singled in two runs to add to the offensive resume.

All of those headlines helped lead freshman hurler Grace Buffington (Gretna, Neb.) to her third win of the season. Morningside (6-3) opened its five-game stay along the Gulf of Mexico with a pair of close-knit defeats, falling 2-1 to Columbia College of Missouri and 5-1 to William Carey College of Mississippi. WCC pitcher Kia Nations handcuffed head coach Jessica Jones-Sitzmann's squad on three hits over seven innings despite a two-hit game from senior catcher Mykel Ann Gray (Ames, Iowa) and a sparkling six-strikeout relief appearance out of sophomore Mia Barozzo (Santa Paula, Calif.). Columbia starter Ella Schouten out-dueled senior Katherine Wurtz (Omaha, Neb.) behind ten strikeouts and a two-run bottom of the sixth rally. Junior outfielder Vanessa Bohuslavsky (Omaha, Neb.) collected two hits in the spring break trip opener.

Morningside (6-3) concluded the Gulf Shores Games with match-ups versus the Baker University of Kansas and William Woods University of Missouri Sunday, March 6.