Holm gets two home runs in game 2 winner, WNCC splits with NJC on Wednesday

Photo: Ellie Soper slides into third base for her tripe that scored two key runs. 

               Gracie Holm hammered two home runs including a grand slam in the second game and finished with seven RBIs as the freshman had a sixth-inning walk off 2-run homer to help the Cougars to a 12-4 win Wednesday in a conference game against Northeastern Junior College.

                The opening game was an offensive show between the two teams with the teams combining for 29 runs and 31 hits as the Plainswomen held on to the 16-13 win.

                The Cougars move to 7-13 overall and 3-5 in conference and will host Miles Community College in non-conference games on Saturday and Sunday at Volunteer Field.

                Holm not only had the hot bat going 3-for-3 with her seven RBIs, but also got the pitching win with six innings of work in allowing just four runs and seven hits. The big difference in the game two win and the game one defeat was minimizing NJC runs and playing tough defensively.

                “We just had a lot more fun the second game,” Holm, the freshman from Grantsville, Utah, said. “Like the first game, we just kind of coasted and played down to their level. But the second game we played true Cougar softball.”

                The defense was also stellar in the second game, committing just two errors whereas the first game WNCC had seven errors and gave up 16 hits while allowing NJC to score in six of the seven innings.

                “So with how much fun we were having, you don’t notice the errors that we did have and we just washed them away real quick,” Holm said. “We just focused on all of the positive things. We just didn’t think about all the errors and all the bad stuff that happened.”

                Holding NJC to just single runs in four innings was a big deal considering game one NJC scored two or more runs in five of the seven innings.

                The performance Holm had in the second game with two home runs including her second career home run was impressive since in the first game she went 0-for-4 with two RBIs. Her seven RBIs in game two was the most in a game since the 2022 season when Macyn Hartman had seven. The record is eight RBIs set in 2011 by Jacqui Cappuccilli.

                “That (grand slam) was my second one and it was just fun. I knew off the bat that it was out,” she said. (The walk-off I actually didn’t think it was out, but I thought it was going to bounce off the fence.”

                The second game saw the Cougars play inspired from the start. NJC scored just one in the first and then WNCC answered in the bottom of the frame as Holm has a 2-out single to score Tina Horton.

                NJC plated a single run in the second with two outs, but WNCC answered with two in the bottom of the frame when Horton had a 2-out, 2-run home run for the 3-2 lead.

                Both teams scored a run in the third. WNCC’s run came with two outs as Emma Murdoch hit a ball that was booted and Holm came in to score for the 4-3 lead.

                NJC tied the game at 4-4 with a run in the fourth, but that was when WNCC went to town with six runs. The fourth started when Adi Duke towered a shot that looked as it was going out, but hit the top of the fence and fell in for a double. Ellie Soper followed with a single and then Horton had a run-scoring single. WNCC went up 6-4 and loaded the bases for Holm, who took the second pitch yard for the grand slam and 10-4 lead.

                WNCC held NJC scoreless in the fifth and sixth and ended the game in the sixth when Arntsen singled and then Holm took the first pitch and sent it over the centerfield fence for the walk-off home run.

                WNCC finished with 11 hits in the contest. Horton and Holm each had three hits. Horton had three runs scored with three RBIs with a double and home run. Soper had two hits in the contest.

                WNCC almost had both games as they battled back in the first game but just came up short considering they had seven errors and gave up 16 hits. On the flip side, WNCC finished with 15 hits with just three extra base hits. Tori Travers went 4-for-5 with three runs scored and a double, while Horton, Arntsen, Murdoch, Soper, and Viktoria Sarkanyova all had two hits. Soper had three runs scored with two RBIs and a triple, while Horton had three runs scored with two RBIs and a double.

                That first game saw NJC take a 2-0 lead which was quickly erased by WNCC in the bottom of the first when they plated four runs. It all started with a Travers double followed by Arntsen earning a walk. Both scored on an error by NJC to tie the game. WNCC went ahead on a run-scoring single by Murdoch and added the fourth run as Jasmine Castro scored on a passed ball.

                Things changed after that as NJC plated four in the second, three in the third, and one in the fourth for a 10-4 lead. WNCC responded with five in the fourth to make it a 10-9 contest and all five runs came with two outs.

                The fourth started with a Murdock single. Then Hayley Blumenschein reached on an error. Soper triple on a hit that right field to score two. Soper scored on a Horton single. WNCC made it 10-9 as Arntsen singled in Travers.

                NJC came right back to go up 13-9 with three in the fifth with all three runs coming with two outs. WNCC came back to plate three in the sixth to make it a 13-12 game. Soper started the sixth with a single and scored on a Horton double. Travers followed with a single for another run and scored the final run of the frame on a Castron sacrifice fly.

                NJC added three important insurance runs in the seventh and then held on as WNCC started a 2-out comeback once again. The seventh started with Soper reaching on an error followed by Horton earning a walk. Travers scored one with a single to rightfield, but that was all they could get.

Game 1
NJC                       243 130 3 – 16 16 0
WNCC                400 503 1 – 13 15 7

LP – Abbey Arntsen.

2B – Tina Horton, Tori Travers.

3B – Ellie Soper.

Game 2
NJC                       111 100 – 4 7 3
WNCC                121 602 – 12 11 2

WP – Gracie Holm.
2B – Tina Horton, Adi Duke.

HR – Gracie Holm (2), Tina Horton.