Consistent Eagles Defeat Spires for Third Straight KCAC Sweep

Kansas City, Mo. – Brooke Belflower had four hits and three RBI in game one, Ka'Zem Wood scored a total of five runs on the day, and Montana Stangel fired a complete-game shutout in her return to the circle in game two, all of which combined to lead Avila softball (19-9, 6-0 KCAC) to a sweep of Saint Mary (14-14, 3-3 KCAC) on Wednesday afternoon at The Z.

With the two wins, Avila is now the lone remaining unbeaten team in the KCAC at this point in the early stages of the season, a nice boon for a squad that started off Wednesday by entering the national landscape, receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25, for the first time this season. Saint Mary, on paper if nothing else, might not be world beaters this season, but, under the direction of first-year head coach Kayleigh Behymer-Swan, the former ace pitcher at Avila, the Spires look like the best team the Eagles have faced in league play this year so far.

And that means that Wednesday's two wins were quality victories for an Eagle squad that remains a bit shorthanded due to injuries and widespread illness. Even still, Avila put together two more consistent, comprehensive team showcases to move to 6-0 in league play and get one win away from 20 on the season only on March 20. The Eagles have coasted to run-rule victories in game one of league doubleheaders before needing to strap in for a tough battle in game two in their first two league series this year, but Wednesday's games were inverted: Saint Mary put together a big rally in game one and made it a real contest throughout before the Eagles got ahead early and never let Saint Mary off the mat in game two.

The pitching staff, and namely the starting pitching, has led the Spires to their success this season but the Eagles were able to scuff up all three pitchers they faced in the series, a testament to the team's approach and execution at the plate. After USM starter Desarare Chavez sent the Eagles down in order on just ten pitches in the first inning Wednesday, Avila scored at least one run in each of the final five frames to steadily build up enough of a cushion to prevail as the game wore on.

Back-to-back RBI hits from McKayla Cotton and Katie Wentworth in the second inning got the Eagles on the board first before Brooke Belflower uncorked a two-run homer to center in the third inning, doubling Avila's lead to 4-0. With the way Cotton had been pitching recently, a four-run lead felt like it could be all Avila needed: but Saint Mary had other plans. The Spires countered with five runs in the fourth off a homer from Jessica Strandlund and a double from Natalie Bruce – their first hits of the game to that point – to take the lead for the first time, 5-4.

With their early 4-0 lead erased, this time the Eagles needed a rally – and they wasted no time delivering one. Back-to-back doubles from Wentworth and Kennedee Lara tied the game at five in the bottom of the fourth and knocked Chavez out of the game. The Spires threw Lara out going to third for the second out, but against new USM arm Grace Rose Chelsea Kurtz slapped a single, stole second, stole third and then trotted home on an overthrow from the USM catcher. Just like that, Avila was in front again, 6-5.

Avila then added additional cushions on RBI from Julia Douglass, Montana Stangel and Belflower in the fifth and sixth to once again expand the lead out to four, 9-5. Chaunelle Penn entered the game in the fourth to help get Cotton and the Eagles through that frame and was solid for the rest of the contest. She allowed some baserunners in every inning, but the Spires managed to score only one earned run off of her in the seventh on a Sadie McWilliams single, and that was all. Penn did her part out of the 'pen to keep the Eagles in front and hold on to the lead and prevail 9-6 in the series opener.

Chavez has had a solid year so far for the Spires, but Allie Cox may well have been their best pitcher this season, and USM saved her for game two. But Avila had Montana Stangel ready to go for her first pitching appearance in close to a week, and in what could have been a pitchers' duel there ended up being one clear-cut winner. Avila scored six earned over four off Cox, while Stangel allowed only four hits – all singles – and two walks against eight strikeouts in a complete-game shutout, a dominant performance to totally silence a USM offense that certainly looked capable just a couple of hours prior.

Avila greeted Cox immediately in the game with a two-run, ground-rule double to left by Julia Douglass in the bottom of the first. Soon after, in the third, Ka'Zem Wood launched a line drive just over the fence in dead center for a solo shot to make it 3-0. In the fifth, Wood was at it again, chopping a ball through the left side and scampering into second for a double that plated Kurtz, and Stangel followed immediately with a double of her own to bring Wood in and make it 5-0.

All of that damage was done with no outs recorded in the fifth, forcing USM to swap Cox for Rose in her second appearance of the day. Belflower drew a walk to welcome Rose back, and a sac bunt by Douglass shifted Belflower to second and pinch-runner Jordan Pollo to third. With a potential run-rule win in sight, Hallie Campbell was summoned from the bench for a pinch hit spot, and she delivered a single to center plating both runners and brining the Eagles within a score from ending the game early.

The Eagles had the game-ending run on base in that fifth but could not bring her in, and Rose then sent Avila down in order in the sixth, sending the game officially into the seventh. It was the first doubleheader in four tries at home this year where Avila did not win via run-rule in at least one of the two games, but with the way Stangel was pitching in this game, it didn't take long for the Eagles to wrap things up in the traditional manner. Rose led off the seventh with a single, but Stangel punched out the final three hitters she saw to give her eight on the day and punctuate a 7-0 shutout win and a doubleheader sweep.

The top of the order certainly set the table for the Eagles to win this pair of games. Kurtz finished with a total of three hits, three runs scored, and four steals; Wood totaled four hits and five runs scored; and Belflower had four hits, three RBI and four runs scored. That trio combined to score 12 of Avila's 16 runs in the two contests.

Up next, Avila softball will hit the road for the first time in KCAC play when the Eagles travel to Hillsboro this Saturday to take on Tabor. The doubleheader is set to begin at 1 PM; as always, you can watch all the action live and for free on the KCAC Network.