Lady Vikes advance in HAAC tourney

Junior Tatum Hathcock held down Jewell's offense until the Lady Vikings could give her some late run support during a 7-1 victory. (Chris Allen/Democrat-News) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

The Missouri Valley College softball team's sticks finally supported its arms.

The Lady Vikings' hurlers, it can be fairly said, have William Jewell's number. They only allowed the Lady Cardinals six runs in four games last week, including Saturday's 7-1, 8-1 doubleheader sweep at Marshall in the first round of the Heart of America Conference Tournament.

Junior Tatum Hathcock had tossed 10 shutout innings three days earlier against Jewell, but lost a 3-1 decision in 12 frames under the international tiebreaker system as her pitch count climbed to 135. It appeared that the rematch might turn out in a similarly disappointing way, but Valley erupted for six runs in the bottom of the sixth.

Senior Heather Sliger doubled and scored on an error in the bottom of the second inning, but the Lady Vikings were held down during the next three stanzas by freshman Amanda Storm.

Hathcock kept Jewell in check, too, until the top of the sixth -- escaping a jam in the third when two runners got into scoring position with one out. The Lady Cardinals tied the game on freshman Katie Darby's single.

Valley wasted no time retaking the lead. Senior Lindsey Stapp singled and junior Janae Borrego reached base when her bunt was thrown to second and dropped on contact with the sliding Stapp.

Senior Kimberly Fuller plated the go-ahead run with a single and two came in on junior Wendy Garcia's opposite-field base hit. Junior Sara Irminger finished the scoring spree with a pinch double for two runs.

Jewell got a one-out single from sophomore Courtney Perkins in the seventh, but that was all Hathcock allowed.

Freshman Janie Jungerman, who no-hit the Lady Cardinals on Wednesday, didn't have to wait nearly so long to get run support as Hathcock. Senior Esperanza Reyes doubled in two runs following singles by Sliger and junior Sydney Kaneshiro in the top of the second.

The Lady Vikings broke the game open with four runs in the fourth, which began with a Sliger single and walk to Fuller. An error let one run in, with the second scoring on junior Kelly Smith's infield single. Safeties by Irminger and Stapp made it 6-0.

Darby doubled in a run in the Jewell sixth, but back-to-back doubles by Stapp and Borrego led to two MVC runs in the seventh.

The Lady Cardinals (26-24) got one-out singles from junior Jesse Keith and freshman Kelsey Loyd during their final turn, but couldn't sustain a rally.

The win sent the Lady Vikings (29-20) into the semifinal round Tuesday at 20th-ranked Evangel, the league's regular season champion. Valley lost twice to the Lady Crusaders earlier this month in Springfield, 6-3 and 6-1, to end a four-game HAAC winning streak.