Softball Stifles Baker Bats in Closing Innings

WICHITA, Kan. — Doane softball answered Baker's early surge with steady offense and a complete-game effort from Natalie Ascencio to earn a 7-3 neutral-site win on Saturday.

The Tigers improved their day behind a 13-hit attack that featured three hits each from Ascencio and Addison Parsons, while Katelyn Hays added two hits and two RBI. Doane scored in four different innings and used a three-run fifth to create separation after Baker had briefly taken the lead.

Baker struck in the top of the second when Ava Greiner hit a three-run home run to center field, giving the Wildcats a 3-1 advantage.

Doane had grabbed an unearned run in the first inning. Milannie Gonzalez reached on an error to open the bottom half, and the Tigers later capitalized on a pair of Baker miscues as Natalie Ascencio came home to make it 1-0.

After Baker's three-run second, the Tigers settled in and began to chip away.

Doane tied the game in the fourth. Hays opened the inning with a double to center and later came around during a sequence that included a Baker error. Lexi Adams, running for Evelyn Iniguez, stole third and scored on Gonzalez's RBI groundout to even the score at 3-3.

The Tigers then took control in the fifth. Jeryn Allen, Ascencio and Parsons opened the inning with consecutive singles to load the bases. Kayla Meyer followed with an RBI single, Hays added another run-scoring single, and Ciara Hudson brought home the third run of the frame with a groundout for a 6-3 Doane lead.

Doane added an insurance run in the sixth when Allen was hit by a pitch, Ascencio singled and Parsons delivered an RBI single to left to score Allen and extend the lead to 7-3.

Ascencio earned the win in the circle, going all seven innings. She allowed three runs on 10 hits, walked two and struck out five. After surrendering the three-run homer in the second, she kept Baker off the scoreboard over the final five innings.

Parsons finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Ascencio helped her own cause by going 3-for-4 at the plate and also scoring once. Hays was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI, while Iniguez and Hudson had two hits apiece. Allen scored twice for the Tigers.

Baker collected 10 hits in the loss, with Greiner's three-run homer accounting for all of the Wildcats' scoring.

Doane took advantage of Baker's six errors, turning pressure on the bases and consistent contact into key scoring chances throughout the game.

The Tigers closed the contest by stranding two Baker runners in the seventh, preserving the four-run victory.

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