Lady Tigers fall to Harrisonville in slugfest, 18-17

Thursday, September 10, 2020

In a high-scoring affair Wednesday evening, the Nevada Lady Tigers were edged by Harrisonville, 18-17.

The non-conference road-loss moves Nevada to 4-3 overall.

The Lady Tigers trailed 10-4 a the conclusion of the second. Nevada was then on the verge of being run-ruled after Harrisonville's lead swelled to 17-4 after three innings of play. 

The Lady Tigers quickly struck back, courtesy of a 10-run fourth. After tacking on a pair of runs in the fifth, Nevada trailed 17-16. 

Harrisonville pushed across an insurance run in the home-half of the fifth, increasing its advantage to two. Down to their final three outs, Nevada plated a run in the seventh, but could draw no closer. 

"I don't really know where to start," said Nevada head coach, Danny Penn. "We played half the game like we had never played softball before, and the other half like it was all we had ever done."

 A combined 35 runs off offense might suggest pitching was the primary issue, but in Nevada's case, not so much. Starting pitcher Abby Harder was undone by a plethora of Nevada errors. 

"We committed 11 errors tonight, and I think 10 of them were in the first three innings," Penn recounted. "It was an example of us getting off the bus, not ready to play, and then not being focused and prepared when balls were hit to us. A number of errors were on soft ground balls, that we simply didn't field, and throw properly. There were a couple of hard-hit balls that were errors, but we definitely had more hard-hit balls than them. We probably had five to six balls that we squared up, but just hit right at a fielder." 

 Harder was in the circle for the first three innings, during which time 17 runs crossed the plate. Only one of those, however, was charged as an earned run on her pitching line. 

"We simply did not defend for her," Penn said. "She missed her spots a few times, which led to hard contact. It was extremely frustrating to watch, because I know we're capable of much better."

Senior Maleigha Hinton took over in the circle in the fourth, holding Harrisonville in check. Hinton allowed just two hits and an earned run — while striking out one, and walking one, over three frames of work. 

"Maleigha did a really nice job of keeping their batters off- balance," Penn noted. "She was locating really well, and gave us a chance." 

At the dish, freshman outfielder Kara Phillips led the Lady Tiger hit parade with a 4-for-5 performance — while knocking in a pair of runs, and scoring three times. In addition for Nevada, sophomore catcher Kirstin Buck concluded 3-for-5 with a double, four RBI, and two runs; Claire Pritchett 3-for-3 with a double, four runs, and two RBI; Hinton 3-for-5 with two RBI, and a run; and Skyler Burns 2-for-4 with a double, three runs, and an RBI. 

"A huge credit to our team, they never quit," Penn began. "We put up 10 runs, with a great offensive inning in the fourth. A number of our runs scored with two outs, and it gave us a chance. We simply had dug ourselves too deep a hole to dig out of. Kara Phillips had a really nice game with four hits, and she threw a runner out at the plate. Kirstin, Claire, and Maleigha all had nice offensive games as well." 

Summed up Penn: "Overall, we're disappointed with how we played the first three innings. We know that we're capable of playing at a much higher level. This will be a good learning experience for us, because we have now seen what happens when we don't show up ready to play."

Up Next

Nevada was slated to open Big 8 Conference West division-play with a Thursday home-matchup against Seneca. The contest, however, was rained out. The contest is scheduled to be made up Saturday, Sept. 26.

The Lady Tigers return to the diamond Saturday (Sept. 12), for a non-conference road-clash with Bolivar. The game was originally scheduled for Sept. 8, but rained out. Varsity first pitch is set for 11 a.m.

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