ROCHESTER -- Collecting 16 hits and 11 runs in a game would normally produce a win, but for the Ridgewater softball team it wasn't enough Thursday.
After being blanked 8-0 in five innings by Westmoreland County Community College (Penn.) in their opening game of the NJCAA Division III Softball Tournament, the Lady Warriors were then outslugged 14-11 by College of DuPage (Ill.).
"We came out and did pretty well," said Ridgewater coach Todd Thorstad about his team's performance against College of DuPage. "But the other teams you face (at the national tournament) hit the ball well, too."
The Lady Warriors (27-8) will face Lorain County CC (Ohio) today at noon in the seventh-place game to wrap up their season.
In their first game, the Lady Warriors had only two base runners, both of which where in the first inning. Sophomore Kristen Hegna led off the frame by reaching on an error, and after an out, freshman Calie Rittenour singled against Nikki Lindberg. But Ridgewater couldn't push across a run and Lindberg stifled the Lady Warriors for the remainder of the game, picking up 13 strikeouts along the way.
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Ridgewater's second game saw more action as College of DuPage and the Lady Warriors combined for 33 hits. The Lady Warriors gave unbeaten freshman Heather Thoma a 9-4 lead, but the Chaparrals plated 10 runs in the sixth to take control.
"We started to have mental breakdowns and not hitting the cutoff man," said Thorstad. "We made some base-running mistakes and gave them some more life and we couldn't put a stop to it."
Dorothy Saulsbury, Sam Drees and Ashley Schmeling -- who all had three hits each -- had run-scoring singles in a six-run third for Ridgewater. Tara Thielke, Britnay Glisczinski and Patina Queenan added two hits each. The six players combined to drive in nine runs.
Westmoreland 8, Ridgewater 0
Westmoreland 100 25 -- 8 9 1
Ridgewater 000 00 -- 0 1 2
HITTING - Westmoreland: Kari Margiotti 3-for-3, 2b, 2 rbi; Christina Brooks 2-for-3, 2b ... Ridgewater: Calie Rittenour 1-for-2
PITCHING (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) -- Westmoreland: Nikki Lindberg (W) 5-1-0-0-0-13 ... Ridgewater: Calie Rittenour (L) 5-9-8-7-2-4
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DuPage 14, Ridgewater 11
DuPage 022 00(10) 0 -- 14 17 1
Ridgewater 106 20 2 0 -- 11 16 3
HITTING - College of DuPage: Manda Brandeneburg 2-for-5, 2 rbi; Lindsey LaDew 2-for-5, solo HR, 2 rbi; Erin Stankus 2-for-5, 2b, 2 rbi; Lauren Schramm 2-for-4, 2b, 2 rbi; Cara McCoy 3-for-5; Mary Jones 2-for-4, rbi; Danielle Curylo 2-for-4, 3 rbi ... Ridgewater: Tara Thielke 2-for-5; Britnay Glisczinski 2-for-5, 3 runs; Dorothy Saulsbury 3-for-4, 3 runs, rbi; Sam Drees 3-for-4, 2 rbi; Ashley Schmeling 3-for-4, 2 runs, 4 rbi; Patina Queenan 2-for-4, 2 rbi; Kayla Terres 1-for-3, rbi
PITCHING (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) -- College of DuPage: Trisha Stock 22/3-8-7-6-3-0, Lindsey Payne (W) 31/3-8-4-4-0-0, Megan Schroeder (S) 1-0-0-0-0-1 ... Ridgewater: Heather Thoma 5-12-9-9-0-3, Calie Rittenour (L) 2-5-5-5-2-0
