Lady Eagles Lead NAIA in Winning Percentage After a Perfect Week

Courtesy Williams Baptist College Athletics Department

Walnut Ridge, Ark. – The Williams Baptist College Lady Eagles softball team has improved to 30-2 on the season after a perfect 6-0 week, including four American Midwest Conference wins. The .938 win percentage for the 5th ranked NAIA softball squad leads the NAIA.

The week started with a double header against the Cougars from Mid-Continent University on Monday. The games were played at the Lady Eagle softball field. Williams won the first game 12-3 and the second one 7-0.

Shelby Anderson stole the show by throwing a seven-inning no-hitter in game two, as well as hitting her 11th home run of the season. The home run set the mark for most home runs in a season by a Lady Eagles softball player. The no-hitter was her third of the season.

Kirsten Gipson hit a home run in each game, giving her four for the season. Kacey Rasnic also added her first home run of the season in game one.

On Tuesday, the Lady Eagles hosted the Scots from Lyon College in an AMC double header. Once again, WBC’s bats and solid pitching prevailed as Williams won 16-1 and 17-2.

Karisa Hendrix struck out 10 of the 15 batters she faced in game one to earn the win. She only allowed one hit in her four innings of work. WBC massed 20 hits in the five-inning blowout.

Game two was much of the same as the Lady Eagles racked up eight extra base hits out of the 19 total in the game. Callie Brooks hit her third home run on her way to a three RBI game. In her first plate appearance of the season, Rickela Williams hit a towering two-run home run off the scoreboard in leftfield.

The final two contests of the week came against AMC foe Hannibal-LaGrange University. The games were played in Hannibal, Mo. Williams run-ruled the Lady Trojans 15-0 in game one and 14-0 in game two.

Hendrix earned the victory in both games, improving her season record to 16-2. Anderson hit another home run to increase the WBC single-season record to 12. Whitney Woodard came off the bench to hit one out of the yard as well, her second on the season. The Lady Eagles totaled 34 hits in the 10 innings played, including 12 extra-base knocks.

Anderson finished the week 11-of-17 with a remarkable 13 runs batted in. She is hitting .506 from the plate for the season, while having a perfect 14-0 record from the circle. She ranks fifth in the NAIA in slugging percentage, sixth in home runs, seventh in batting average and eighth in RBI’s.

The 5th ranked Lady Eagles are now 30-2 overall and 10-0 in the AMC on the season. The team will be honoring three seniors on Tuesday, April 9, in the team’s last home regular season contests of the season. All-Americans Karisa Hendrix and Felicia Woodard will be joined by Kacey Rasnic for their last home games. Rasnic has a .500 batting average in 25 games played this season.

Williams will host Benedictine-Springfield with first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m. The games will be played at the Lady Eagle softball field in Walnut Ridge.