CRC's win streak improves to nine

April 18, 2021

By Dustin Semore, Sports Information Director

SPRINGDALE, Ark. – Working around the rains of northwest Arkansas, Crowley's Ridge softball managed to squeeze in three games against the Royals of Ecclesia (Ark.) College. The opening game saw CRC jump ahead with a 7-4 win, before run-ruling the Royals in games two and three, with an 11-3 victory followed by a 19-9 win.

Recaps for games one and two can be read here.

GAME THREE

Crowley's Ridge – 19

Ecclesia – 9

The Lady Pioneers (18-14) saved their best for last, marking up 19 runs from 19 hits in the final game of the day en route to a 19-9 win in five innings.

The first two innings appeared to be the prelude to a close game, with CRC plating a run in the top of the first and Ecclesia (1-36) answering with a run of their own in the bottom of the second.

The Lady 'Neers bats became white-hot, knocking eight hits in a seven-run third inning. Rachel Russell (SR/Russellville, Ark.) had an RBI double followed by an RBI triple from K.J. Jackson (SR/Barton, Ark.).

The long ball paid dividends in the top of the fourth inning. Bre'Anna Warren (SR/Forrest City, Ark.) opened with a double, followed by Sammi Henry (SR/Marmaduke, Ark.) reaching on a walk. Rachel Russell would then muscle her first dinger of the year for a three-run bomb. Not to be outdone, once CRC had batted around in the inning, Warren stepped to the plate with Lacey Lambright (JR/Harrisburg, Ark.), April Kennedy (JR/Marmaduke, Ark.), and Kaitlyn Stebelton (SR/Crosby, Texas) on base. She would then smash a bomb over the centerfield wall for a grand slam – her first of the season. The book closed on a long day at the ballpark with a 19-9 victory.

Russell went 2-for-2 from the plate, but those hits were huge, seeing as they drove in five runs. Warren's grand slam gave her all four of her game's RBIs in one swing of the bat. Kylie Cox (FR/Dallas, Texas) had a pinch-hit two-run single in her lone plate appearance, while Sammi Henry drove in two runs of her own. Kaitlyn Stebelton had three hits in the victory.

Summer Maxwell (SR/Forrest City, Ark.) got her second win of the season by hurling four innings, striking out three Royal batters.

UP NEXT

Lady Pioneer fans will not need to wait long to see their girls in action, as a marathon of playing nine games in four consecutive days continues with a trip to Missouri for a double-header with Hannibal-LaGrange (Mo.) University on Monday, April 19 beginning at 1 p.m.