Softball: Bowen's big day sparks Hampshire

It took four innings for Hampshire's bats to heat up against Jacobs' hard throwing lefthander Delaney Garden.

Once the Whip-Purs' bats came alive they were potent. Scoring 3 runs each in the fifth and sixth innings, Hampshire held an 8-3 advantage over the visiting Golden Eagles after six innings of play in Fox Valley Conference action in Hampshire Thursday afternoon. The game was suspended after 6 innings because of heavy rain and will be resumed on May 1 in Algonquin preceding the regularly scheduled game between the two teams.

Sarah Bowen, 3-for-4 on the day with 3 runs scored and 4 RBI, was the key component for the Whip-Purs during the 3-run outbursts.

Bowen, who struck out in her first plate performance, delivered an RBI double in the fifth and crushed a 3-run homer in the sixth inning.

"It was all about seeing good pitches and pitch selection," said Bowen. "I was able to get good pitches the last 3 at bats and was able to drive the ball."

Mikayla Snider and Alyssa Cork delivered 2 hits each with an RBI as the Whip-Purs pounded out 12 hits against Garden. Morgan Haefling also added a run-scoring double.

With the scored tied at 1 in the fourth, the Whip-Purs took the lead for good. Cork led off the inning with a triple and scored on a perfectly executed safety squeeze bunt by Shia Ann Currie.

"Shia Ann gave us the spark we needed to get our offense going," said Hampshire coach Kelly Wasilewski. "It was perfectly executed by Shia Ann. We show we can score runs in many different ways."

Katie Del Re pitched a solid 6 innings for the Whips. Del Re gave up 3 runs on 3 hits while striking out 6 with 3 walks and a hit batsmen.

Garden, who struck out 11 in the first 4 innings, ended with 14 strikeouts without allowing a walk.

The Jacobs lefty gave up 8 runs on 12 hits in 6 innings. Hampshire roughed up Garden for 6 runs on 7 hits during the final 2 innings. The Jacobs defense committed 4 errors behind the sophomore pitcher.

"Delaney pitched great and we didn't play very good defense behind her," said Jacobs coach Katie O' Brien. "We didn't get here until late so we didn't get enough batting practice and that hurt. We didn't hit the ball very well and the extra batting practice could have helped."

Garden and Abby Ziwiski contributed run-scoring singles for the Golden Eagles. Number 9 hitter Hannah Slocum had the only other hit, a single.