The Lindenwood softball team (21-3, 8-0 GLVC) increased a pair of impressive runs on Sunday, upping its winning streak to 15 games in its doubleheader sweep against Truman (6-17, 1-7 GLVC) from Lou Brock Sports Complex. The Lions also extended its streak of allowing one run or less to 12 straight contests, dating back to March 3 against Ohio Dominican.
 
Lindenwood scored early and often in its 7-1 game-one victory, scoring in four different innings with six players recording one RBI. In the series finale, Whitney Wendel drove in three of the team's five runs, smacking a pair of extra-base hits in the 5-1 win.
 
GAME ONE OVERVIEW
After Taylor Bushman came across to score on wild pitch in the first inning, Lauren Pelton doubled home the first of three more the next frame to open the floodgates early. Bushman then scored the freshman with one of her three hits in the win, before Megan Clark scurried home on a sacrifice fly by Whitney Kinser.
 
The Lions scored two more in the fifth to build their lead to 6-1, while Wendel collected her first knock of the contest that scored Kinser in the sixth.
 
Righty Marina Esparza flirted with trouble a few times, but escaped with just one run allowed – her first since March 3. The Mokena, Ill., product punched out nine Bulldogs, while scattering three hits.
 
GAME ONE LEADERS
Bushman (3-for-4, RBI, R, SB)
Pelton (1-for-2, 2B, RBI, R)
Kinser (1-for-1, 2 R, 2 BB, R)
Esparza (7.0 IP, 9 K)
Irelynn West (3-for-4, R)
 
GAME TWO OVERVIEW
Wendel wasted no time in the finale, doubling home Bushman in the first for the game's first run. Amanda Weyh promptly followed with a two-bagger of her own to plate Wendel.
 
After Weyh surrendered her first run in 13.2 innings in the third, the Lions bounced back with a crooked three in the bottom half of the frame. After Wendel's second homer in as many days that also scored Kinser, Pelton followed four batters later with a single to score Weyh and increase the lead to the eventual final of 5-1.
 
Weyh tossed exactly 100 pitches, which ended on a bizarre double play when the first baseman West caught Truman's Sydney Parkerson at second following a ground out. The junior struck out just one batter, but finished with zero free passes for the second straight start.
 
GAME TWO LEADERS
Wendel (3-for-3, HR, 2B, 3 RBI)
Weyh (2-for-3, 2B, RBI, R)
Pelton (2-for-3, RBI)
Kinser (2-for-4, R)
 
NOTABLE
- Wendel finished the six-game week a monster at the dish, going 12-for-24 with five extra-base hits with 11 RBI and five runs scored. The Seguin, Texas, native now has an OPS of 1.052 and is hitting .407.
- The graduate student also upped her hitting streak to eight games, which spans the entire GLVC slate to this point.
- Although snapped in the series finale, Bushman collected multi-hit performances in five straight games following the 7-1 victory on Sunday. She now has a team-best 11 multi-hit games this spring.
- Lindenwood sits atop the GLVC with an unblemished 8-0 mark to open league action. The team's 21 overall victories also ranks first among GLVC members.
- When national stats are updated on Monday, Lindenwood will sport the nation's best team ERA with a miniscule 1.08 mark, anchored by Weyh's 0.62 effort inside the circle. Entering the weekend, the junior ranked fifth in DII in the category.
 
QUOTABLE
On the balanced lineup and hitting near the bottom of the order…
Pelton: "I think it's amazing for all of us. It doesn't really matter where you are in the lineup as long as all do our jobs."
 
On the team chemistry and being one of three freshmen starting…
Pelton: "The upperclassmen really made us feel like family. It was definitely an adjustment coming to college right after COVID, but everyone, especially the sophomores, really made it feel like home for us."
 
On the team's defense this spring…
Pelton: "Offense is defense; everything correlates with each other. As much as hitting is important to win games, so is the defensive side. I couldn't be more proud of how our defense has played and it's been a huge key to win ballgames."
 
On staying focused in the midst of a 15-game winning streak…
Pelton: "Like Coach Brown says, we go one game at a time. We focus on the game at hand and then the next game; whatever happens happens. We try to focus on the next series ahead of us and not after that until the next day because if you do, you lose focus on what's right in front of you."
 
UP NEXT
The Lions hit the road for the first time this season, visiting Southwest Baptist on Saturday afternoon for a GLVC doubleheader. First pitch from Bolivar, Mo., is set for 12 p.m.