The Smoke return to Austin following a four series road trip.
While the Texas Smoke have been on a nearly three-week road trip, it’s only gotten hotter in Texas. The team came into this series with the Oklahoma City Spark still boasting the best record in the league, despite going 6-6 while on the road. The Smoke were looking to get momentum going again after being swept by the USSSA Pride in Evansville, IN.
Both lineups were missing key pieces as Team USA is currently in Ireland competing in the Women’s Softball World Cup. Baylee Klingler and Sahvanna Jaquish were out for the Smoke while the Spark were missing Jocelyn Alo.
Bats got going early for both sides in the first inning. A walk, a single and a double quickly put two runs on the board for Oklahoma City before Alyssa Rivera caught a tagging runner at home after a flyout in right field to end the Spark run. The Smoke responded with runs of their own in the bottom of the first. A leadoff walk by Janae Jefferson got the first Smoke runner on and Morgan Howe’s double off the wall put one across for the home team. Elizabeth Mason doubled to score Howe and an Alyssa Rivera single brought Mason home to take the lead. With two outs, Sam Show would single to score Rivera before the Spark had seen enough. Oklahoma City brought in Keilani Ricketts to relieve starter Alex Storako. Madysen Grimm struck out to end the inning.
Autumn Pease came in to pitch for the Smoke in the top of the second and promptly hit Spark batter Michelle Moultrie, but a great double play by the defense helped erase that pitching mistake. A flyout to right field would bring the Texas bats back to the plate. Janae Jefferson singled to get on once again but the Smoke wouldn’t be able to do anything with her. Both teams were quiet during the middle innings despite getting runners on base. The Smoke stranded four runners before momentum started to roll again in the bottom of the sixth. Pinch runner Destini Brown came in following a Sam Show single and Madysen Grimm bunted her way on base. After a groundout, Spark pitcher Keilani Ricketts loaded the bases with a four pitch walk to Janae Jefferson that seemed intentional. A Charla Echols groundout would score Brown from third to grab an extra insurance run before the end of the inning. The Spark hitters recorded two foul outs before they started to rally. Back-to-back singles brought the tying run to the plate, but Sami Williams flew out to right field to secure the Smoke win.
The Smoke will look for their second series win against Oklahoma City tonight at 6:30 pm.
Player of the Game: Janae Jefferson held it down in defense helping to record two double plays while going 1 for 2 at the plate with a run scored and two walks.
Notable Stats:
Morgan Howe: 2 for 4, R, 2B, RBI
Sam Show: 2 for 3, RBI
Autumn Pease: 6.0 IP, 3K, 1BB, 0ER
Uniform: Player Appreciation jerseys with team color details and player nicknames featured on the back.
Elsewhere in the WPF: The SIS Vipers and USSSA Pride don’t begin their next series until Sunday, July 16th.