The Bulldogs bounced back Wednesday night against Twin Lakes for a victory after two nights of back-to-back shutouts for the team earlier
this week.
The shutouts began on Monday when the Bulldogs faced off against the Western Boone Stars, who walked away with a 7 to 0 victory against the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs struggled at the plate as they attempted to create a rally that would allow for the team to bounce back, but the bats failed to ignite, leading to 16 strikeouts over the seven innings. With four errors on the defensive side, the Stars were able to secure the win with seven runs, but due to the errors, only three were considered “earned.”
The two hits that the Bulldogs earned during the game were secured by Junior Abigail Richie. Senior Landree Whiteman would pitch a game of 8 hits, 3 strikeouts, 6 walks, 7 runs and 3 errors.
The Stars took an early lead against the Bulldogs in the first inning, shutting the Bulldogs down before scoring three runs. The Stars continued to skunk the Bulldogs for all seven innings while securing two more runs in the second and fourth innings, resulting in a final score of 7 to 0. In total, the Bulldogs secured 2 hits and fumbled 4 errors while the Stars secured 8 hits and fumbled 3 errors on Monday.
The back-to-back losses continued as the Bulldogs faced off against #3 Rossville Hornets on Tuesday, which is a team noted to have one of the best pitchers in the state. The Bulldogs’ performance culminated in struggles at the plates alongside multiple errors that caused the Hornets to secure a 15 to 0 victory over the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs struck out 12 times over the seven innings with only one hit, which was earned by Senior Landree Whiteman who smashed a single in the bottom of the fourth inning, but no further action took place on the offensive side for the Bulldogs.
On the defensive side, the Bulldogs continued to struggle to keep up with the Hornet’s bats, which culminated in five errors throughout the seven innings. Three of the five errors, if they were not fumbled, would have ended the inning and stopped the Hornets from continuing their domination of the field on Tuesday night.
Whiteman pitched once again to secure one of her higher nights of strikeouts, raking in 9 strikeouts in only five innings.
The Hornets would take off early with a 2-run lead in the first before continuing to widen the gap while keeping the Bulldogs at 0 runs throughout the entire game, leading to a 15 to 0 victory for the Hornets. The Hornets scored four runs in the third inning, 3 runs in the fourth and 6 in the fifth to walk away with the game. Overall, the Bulldogs secured one hit and fumbled five errors throughout the game while the Hornets secured 14 hits and did not fumble a single error on Tuesday.
The Bulldogs would bounce back after the back-to-back shutouts by revving up their bats and strengthening their defensives to secure a victory of Twin Lakes. For more on the story of the Bulldogs’ upswing, check out “Bulldogs Slide Into Victory” on Clinton County Daily News, Boone County Daily News and Carroll County Daily News.