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Hosting Indiana Northern State Conference leaders Knox on Thursday night, the Tippecanoe Valley softball team looked to make up some ground in the conference standings. Thanks to a fantastic outing from starter Dalynne Bussard (10 strikeouts, three hits allowed) and some timely hitting from the offense, the Lady Vikings were able to do just that, picking up a 7-2 victory.
The Lady Redskins scored the game’s first run during the team’s first trip to the plate. Leading off, Addison Sponaugle began the contest by hitting a double to the wall, and with nobody cutting off the fhrow from left, she was able to take third thanks to some head’s up base running. A couple of batters later, Elise Wolff put down a perfect sacrifice bunt to put Knox up 1-0. A pair of two-out walks began an impromtu rally for the Lady Vikings in the bottom of the first, but the final out was made before a run was able to cross.
Bussard responded well to giving up the opening run of the game the inning prior, as he struck out two of the three hitters she saw in the top of the second to retire the side in order.
That momentum gained allowed the Lady Vikings to take the lead their next time at the plate. It started with a single by Minda Shriver for the team’s first hit of the day. Then, with two outs, Gaby Gonzalez put together a great at-bat, eventually drawing a walk to turn it over to Bussard at the top of the order. The senior made sure to make the most of the opportunity, as she doubled into right-center field to score both runners and make it a 2-1 game. Bussard would come around to score herself on a misplayed grounder hit by KC Shriver, and just like that, Valley led 3-1.
By the time she had gotten through the top of the third, Bussard had become the story of the game, as the IU Indianapolis commit struck out the first two hitters of the inning to make it four punchouts in a row before getting a fly out for her second straight 1-2-3 inning. In the bottom half, Knox hurler Cheryl Barnes did the same, bouncing back after giving up the lead an inning prior with a perfect frame.
A single by Wolff in the top of the fourth ended Bussard’s streak of retired hitters at 10 in a row. However, no damage would be done in the inning as a nice throw from catcher Kaitlyn Threlkel gunned her down as she tried to steal third, resulting in yet another inning the Tippy Valley defense faced the minimum.
It looked as if Barnes was going to put another perfect inning together in the bottom of the fifth, but the Lady Vikings were able to put together a two-out rally to put three more runs on the board. It started with a single by Bussard, which was followed up by a walk to KC Shriver. Kahlyn Manns came up next and crushed a double into left field to make the most of the opportunity. Both runners came around to score, making it 5-1 just like that. The next hitter, Threlkel, drove in her teammate with a single past shortstop for Valley’s second three-run inning of the day.
Senior Kahlyn Manns of Valley makes good her turn at the plate with a two-run double during the fourth inning...NIeter
Now holding a more comfortable 6-1 lead, Bussard got right back to work in the circle. The Lady Redskin hitters had no answers for what she was dealing, as the senior struck out two of the three hitters she faced for the third time in the game, bringing her total to eight.
It took just one swing in the bottom of the fifth for the Lady Vikings to extend their lead even further. With a new pitcher in the ballgame, freshman Minda Shriver welcomed her very rudely by crushing the second pitch she saw over the center field fence for a solo home run. Needing just six outs to clinch a victory, the Valley advantage was now 7-1.
The score didn’t say that way for long, as Knox’s leadoff hitter in the top of the sixth, Ava Jensen, sent a ball of her own over the center field fence for another solo shot. The visitors put one more girl on base, but two more strikeouts from Bussard and a groundout were enough to neutralize the threat before any other runs could score, leaving things at 7-2.
That’s where things remained after the bottom of the sixth, as the Lady Vikings were able to load the bases but could not capitalize in the score column. This moved things to the top of the seventh, where the home side wasted no time finishing things off. Despite it being the only inning of the game without a strikeout from Bussard, she was able to get a pair of ground balls and a pop out to third to ice the game without allowing a baserunner.
Tippecanoe Valley (8-5, 4-3 INSC) is at Western on Monday.
