Odessa College Improves In Sweep Of Frank Phillips College

After dropping four games in a row to Clarendon College, the Odessa College Lady Wranglers needed to find a way to get back on track.

Saturday, behind some masterful pitching performances, they did just that, sweeping Frank Phillips College, 6-1 and 10-3, on Saturday afternoon at Wranglers Field.

Pitchers Brittany Kennett and Hope Schoeneman both took no-hitters deep into their respective outings while dominating the Lady Plainsmen's hitters.

"We definitely talked about really springing through the zone, working hard to challenge hitters instead of (giving) too many free passes," Odessa College head coach Jeff Jackson said. "Obviously, whenever we did get into some trouble, as far as giving up runs, it was just free bases.

"That's something that we've been working on is just challenging opposing hitters, not letting them get any sort of freebies."

In the first game, Cami Deanda scored the first run for the Lady Wranglers (20-7 overall, 4-4 in WJCAC play) from third base on a throw down to second base in the bottom of the first.

Brooke Ryan extended the lead to 2-0 after tripling to lead off the third inning and then scoring on passed ball. Ryan then delivered an RBI triple to spark a two-run rally in the fifth that made the score, 4-0.

Kennett retired her first 10 batters in order before a one-out walk in the fourth inning. She finished with seven strikeouts and three walks in the complete-game outing.

Frank Phillips (5-19, 0-6) had just one hit, which came in the top of the seventh on an RBI triple by Sara Lane.

In Game 2, Odessa College's Rianna Salgado put the Lady Wranglers on top in the first with an RBI double.

Odessa College added three more runs in the third inning to break the game open and never looked back.

Schoeneman did not allow a single hit for the Lady Wranglers until the top of the sixth when she lost her no-hitter and shutout with one swing of the bat by Frank Phillips' Ciara Reindeau, who connected for a three-run home run.

Schoeneman struck out seven and walked one.

Odessa College pushed across five runs on two hits in the sixth, highlighted by Ryan's two run homer, along with Elizabeth Hickman's bases-clearing single.

Ryan was 3 for 4 with a double, triple, home run and three RBIs in the second game. Salgado finished 3 for 4 with a single, double, home run and three RBIs.

With just one month left in the regular season, the Lady Wranglers needed a pair of solid wins to put themselves in a good position.

"It was tough having those two losses yesterday to Clarendon, so I really just wanted to come out and throw my best stuff, really spin it," Kennett said. "It was really good and my team backed me up. It was nice to just have everything come together.

"Honestly, everything was working really well. It was just one of those days where everything was spinning, I was hitting good spots."

Article and photo by Peter Dindinger OA