The Women’s Hornet Softball tournament opened their season this past February 2-4 as they played in the Lubbock Christian Tournament.  This tournament allowed for the Hornets to play five games over the course of three days in Lubbock, Texas. They went 2-3 in tournament play.

“For our first weekend back to start off the spring season, I think we did very well,” said Hailey Cope, senior infielder. “Just like with anything else, there is always room for improvement and opportunities to learn from. We mesh very well together on and off the field and I’m very excited to see where the season takes us.”

The first game was played against Lubbock Christian University.  This was a high scoring game, but Hornets fell just two runs short of winning the game with a final score of 10-12.

The second game was a win for the Lady Hornets as they defeated the Colorado School of Mines, 8-5. This was an impressive comeback as the Hornets were down in the sixth inning, 5-2 and made a comeback of six points to win the game. 

The Hornet’s kept their winning momentum going into their third game as they defeated Texas-Permian Basin, 7-4.  They played this match on Feb. 3, Emporia State’s second game that same day. 

The fourth game was a loss the following day, Feb. 4 after coming off of two wins. The Hornets played Midwestern State University and fell, 2-5.

“I think the game that was the most difficult for us was our fourth game against Midwestern State,” said freshman pitcher Montana Mesler. “Their defense shifted on our left handed batter so it made it hard for any of our left handed hitters to get on base. We also had three home runs hit off on us that really killed us, allowing them to get 5 runs.” 

The fifth and final game of the tournament was a tight one against Chadron State University.  In the end, the Hornets fell, 4-5 and ended their three day tournament play, 2-3.

“We showed a lot of great potential this weekend in all aspects of the game with our pitching, hitting, and defense but that (consistency) wasn’t there the whole time,” said senior first baseman Danielle Sprinkle. “The next step will be to put all of that together for a full seven innings.”

The Lady Hornets will play their next tournament matches in Bentonville, Arkansas Feb. 10.  There will be four teams competing in the Ark-Monticello DII Classic.