ATHERTON, Calif. - The Warriors traveled coastal to Norcal rival Menlo College on Saturday as what was intended for a home game, due to the forecasted rain, the matchup got moved to the all-turf facility in Atherton to secure the two-game outing. In game one the Jessup softball team fell behind early, unable to catch up in the 9-6 loss, but they would rally back in game two to secure the split with an extra-inning 11-10 victory over the Oaks.

"This team has overcome so much in a matter of weeks, but today they overcame so much more adversity in a single day," head coach Brie Campbell commented. "The outcome of game two was that of heart, from top to bottom, dugout and field, it was a Warrior win that was earned playing as one team with one goal in mind, to win no matter the cost."

Despite the loss in game one, the Jessup Warriors did collect eight hits in the high-scoring affair. But unfortunately, Menlo had 16 hits on the way to victory.

The Oaks would put up three early before the Warriors added one in the third and fifth, 2-6. But they would continue to battle putting up three runs in the sixth inning.  The offensive onslaught came from singles by Terra Goetz and Kaela Hangebrauck and Hailey Hiett.

In their last-chance outing, the Warriors trailed by four, a single run would cross, but it wouldn't be enough as the Oaks took game one.

Goetz started the game for the William Jessup Warriors, surrendering six runs on ten hits over four innings before Taylor Swift threw two innings in relief out of the bullpen.

The Warriors stole the lead late in game two in an 11-10 victory over Menlo.  The game was tied at eight with the Warriors batting in the top of the eighth when an error scored two runs for Jessup.

Early on the Warriors built a five-run lead in the first inning and then held off Menlo's charge, but they would slowly chip away the advantage with a pair of runs in the fifth inning to take the lead.

The final two innings would combine for 10 runs between both dugouts as the Warriors put up three runs in the top of the seventh to take back the lead, Natalie Basaldua and Taya Ruiz would start things off with a pair of singles followed by Maddy Melo to load the bases. A three-RBI double by Hangebrauck would give the Warriors the lead headed into the last frame of regulation up by two. 

Melo would answer back in that last-chance effort to tie it up as the eighth inning would continue with a runner on second for international tiebreaker ruling. The rally continued as Hiett had a lead-off single and a hard-hit ball by senior Basaldua would bring in two runs as an error was recorded by the Oaks. The final run of the inning would again be recorded on the home-team error column as Jessup headed into the last frame of regulation up by two. 

Swift would come back in for the Warriors relieving starter Katie Blankenheim to secure her first win on the season going two innings allowing just one run on three hits.

"Our pitchers did a great job battling through tough conditions, both controllable and uncontrollable throughout today's two games," Campbell said. "Taylor came in and got the job done, picking up right where Katie left off and I couldn't be happier with the fight each one of them showed in the circle today."

The William Jessup Warriors collected 16 hits with Ruiz leading going 4-for-5 as Hangebrauck, Heitt and Basaldua each had three. Leading the RBI column was Hangebrauck with a total of 4.

The Warriors will return home next weekend to faceoff with Hope International and Vanguard.

"We're looking to continue the momentum from today's win and take it into this next week's opponents who are historically the top two in the conference and great competitors," Campbell concluded.
   
William Jessup University is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC). For additional information regarding Jessup Athletics, visit www.jessupathletics.com; visit www.jessup.edu for more information on William Jessup University. Follow Jessup Athletics on social media: William Jessup University Athletics (Facebook) and @JessupAthletics (Twitter & Instagram).