Lucie Asher
HOPE — It took an extra inning, but the Hauser softball team got the run it needed against Edinburgh Friday.
Lucie Asher drove a ball to center that went past the fielder, and Haven Hartwell scored the winning run to give the Jets a 6-5 eight-inning Mid-Hoosier Conference victory over the Lancers.
“We’ve worked a lot this offseason on manufacturing runs, being aggressive with baserunning, the small ball. It was a staple (in in 8-7 win at Edinburgh Thursday) night,” Hauser coach Andy Brunner said. “It didn’t work as well as we wanted it to tonight, but nonetheless, it is going to be a big part of who we are is stealing. We found success with it two nights in a row.”
For the Lancers (3-3, 0-2), it was about the missed opportunities. They outhit the Jets (2-1, 2-0) 14-6, but left 10 runners stranded with several in scoring position. They also had five errors on defense.
“We’ve been hitting really either at the beginning of the game or the end of the game. It’s trying to string that together,” Edinburgh coach Ben Taylor said. “We look at the last two games, 14 hits in both of those games, and we lost by one run in both. If nothing else, it is a big learning opportunity.”
The Lancers took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but Hauser came back with three runs of its own in the bottom half of the first to tie it at 3-3. Edinburgh took the lead again in the top of the second with two more runs. The Jets tied it in the bottom of the third with two runs. It remained deadlocked until Asher broke the tie for the Jets in the bottom of the eighth.
“The ups and downs in our bats. That was what we were talking about a moment ago, we’ve got to find some consistency. We go through ebbs and flows where we’re really hot, and then we’re really not, so finding the consistency in that. I feel like our defense is same old same old, it is solid. We’ve got to find the offense to match, and we will.”
Asher finished 2 for 4 for Hauser. Lexi Hamilton was 1 for 4 with a double and an RBI. Kaitlyn Robinson was 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI. Haylin Campbell was 2 for 4 with a double and two RBIs.
Hartwell started in the circle, going three innings and allowing five runs, with a walk and four strikeouts. Campbell pitched the final three innings in relief to earn the win, allowing no runs on four hits.
Kenna Streeval was 2 for 3 with a double and RBI for the Lancers. Eloise Cox finished 1 for 4 with a double and two RBIs. Shyla Watt went 2 for 5 with two doubles.
Chloe Hancock started pitching for Edinburgh, going three innings and allowing five runs on three hits. Streeval came on in relief and allowing one run, two walks and five strikeouts in the loss.
