YUMA, ARIZ. – Leigha Kirby tossed a complete game, Olivia Ball and Sarah Beth Brake each hit homers and Wallace State’s third-ranked softball team kept its season alive with an 8-1 victory over Butler (Kan.) CC on Wednesday afternoon in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I National Championship at the Pacific Avenue Athletic Complex.
Wallace State, seeded third, rebounded with a convincing victory after losing in the opening round, 7-5, to Paris Junior College on Tuesday night.
Kirby, a Pisgah native and the ACCC Pitcher of the Year, lifted the Lions with a gem, recording 10 strikeouts and scattering one run on five hits.
Olivia Ball gave Wallace State (55-3) an early 1-0 edge with a solo homer in the second inning. Harper Niblett’s sacrifice fly in the third made it 2-0.
Sixth-seeded Butler registered its lone run in the bottom of the third.
The Lions pulled away with a four-run fifth inning, highlighted by Brake’s pinch-hit, two-run homer.
Niblett finished 3-for-3 with a pair of RBIs, a stolen base and run scored, while Felicity Frame was 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and a stolen base.
Gracie Benton, Jaiden Farnetti and Lillyanna Cartee each added singles.
Wallace State advances to play either Lake Land or Odessa College tonight at 8 Central.
In the Lions’ opener on Tuesday, Benton had a three-run homer. Niblett finished with a pair of hits, including a two-run double, and Frame added two singles and a run scored. Abbie Waters contributed a double.
For more information about Wallace State athletics, visit www.athletics.wallacestate.edu or the athletics Facebook page at www.wallacestate.edu/athleticsfb.
