The Wayne State softball dropped its first two games of the season in action Friday at the 8-State Classic in Bentonville, Ark.
In the opener, Wayne State dropped a 5-1 decision to East Central out of Oklahoma. Both teams had five hits, but East Central took advantage of two Wildcat errors to go with three hits in the second inning to score all five runs in the contest.
Wayne State got on the board in the fifth inning when Katelyn Wobken and Blair Shanks each walked, with Wobken scoring on a double-play grounder by Emily Chandler.
Chandler led Wayne State at the plate going 2-for-3 with a pair of singles. Jordyn Breitbarth, Rachel Shumaker and Alyssa Schropp each added singles for the Wildcats.
Nataliah Hopkins suffered the pitching loss, allowing five runs, all unearned, on five hits with two walks and two strikeouts. Allison Niemeier worked one inning of relief and retired all three batters with one strikeout.
In the second game, Emporia State limited the Wildcats to three hits to post an 8-0 win.
Emporia State scored two runs in the second and two more in the fourth and added four more runs in the fifth for the 8-0 win.
Wayne State’s best scoring chance came in the third inning when Alyssa Schropp doubled and Monique Alyea singled with one out, but the Wildcats could not score.
ESU outhit WSC 11-3 in the contest. Schropp doubled while Monique Alyea and Abbie Hix each singled.
Riley Vanderveen was tagged with the pitching loss, allowing six runs on nine hits over 3 2/3 innings. Niemeier worked the final inning and was charged with two runs and two hits.
Wayne State will play two games on Saturday at the 8-State Classic, battling Ouachita Baptist at 9 a.m. and Arkansas Monticello at 1 p.m.
