Tulsa Softball Lands Home Win Against Wichita State

Senior first baseman Julie Kernen and sophomore center fielder Maddie Withee each tallied three RBI to lead the Tulsa softball team to a 9-6 win over Wichita State Tuesday evening at the Collins Family Softball Complex.

Kernen, who was 3-for-4 and scored twice, hit her ninth home run and racked up her 45th RBI of the season, while senior right fielder Erica Sampson knocked her fifth homer of the year. Sampson finished the game 3-for-3 at the plate with two RBI and three runs scored. Withee picked up all three RBI on a bases-clearing double that gave the Golden Hurricane the lead for good in the third inning.

Senior Bailey Erwin picked up her 10th win of the season to improve to 10-4, while the Golden Hurricane moved to 20-10 overall. Junior Caitlin Sill picked up her fourth save of the season. WSU starter Katie Malone (9-8) took the loss for the Shockers (16-16). TU racked up nine runs on 13 hits, while Wichita State tallied eight hits in the ballgame.

Wichita State took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning, before Tulsa scored seven straight runs over the next two frames. The Shockers cut it to 7-6 after scoring two runs each in the fifth and sixth innings, but the Hurricane added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth.

Tulsa plays at Oklahoma State Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Cowgirl Stadium in Stillwater.

Wichita State got on the board first, scoring on a pair of RBI singles by third baseman Mackenzie Wright and Macklin Hitz in the third inning. Tulsa responded with Maddie Withee's two-out three-run double to take the 3-2 lead in the bottom of the frame. TU loaded the bases for the second straight inning on a leadoff walk by Sampson, a one-out single by Kernen and walk by junior left fielder Jodi Edmiston.

The Hurricane extended its lead to 7-3 in the fourth inning, with all of the damage coming on the two-run homers by Sampson and Kernen. With one out, TU rattled off four straight hits, as sophomore third baseman Maggie Withee started it with a single into left center. Junior catcher Catherine Horner split the homers with a base hit through the left side.

Wichita State cut the lead to 7-6 with two runs each in the fifth and sixth innings. Designated player Brittany Fortner led off the fifth with a solo home run to right center, and second baseman Liz Broyles walked and scored on a sacrifice fly by catcher Melanie Jaegers. In the sixth, right fielder Cacy Williams hit a two-run home run. TU freshman pitcher Emily Watson, who relieved Erwin in the fifth and retired the final two batters of the inning, responded to the sixth-inning homer by sitting down the next three batters in order.

Tulsa picked up a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth on RBI singles by Kernen and Edmiston. Sampson lined a one-out single up the middle and Horner drew a walk to set up the run-scoring hits. Sill pitched the seventh inning for TU, allowing a walk, but retiring the Shockers with no damage to earn the save.