Rasmusan No-Hits Poplar, Softball Scores 53 Runs In Three Games

By Joseph

The Glasgow softball team, in a tight conference race, destroyed its competition this weekend getting three huge victories in the chase for third place.

Entering the weekend at .500 in conference and battling against Shelby and Huntley Project for positioning in divisionals, the Scotties scored 53 runs in a three-game road swing this weekend, vaulting them to 6-3 in confernce and just a game behind Shelby for third place. 

With a head-to-head game with Shelby in Glasgow on Friday, a win, coupled with a Huntley loss to undefeated Columbus, would move them into a three-way tie with the Coyotes and the Lady Devils this weekend. Should they beat Shelby by four runs, the Scotties would earn a tie-breaker that would give them the coveted third spot in the Eastern Division, and an easier road to the State tournament at the end of the month.

Yet, for all the runs the Scotties scored this weekend, they didn't get the bats going until late in the first game on Saturday.

Playing against Cut Bank, in the weekend opener, the Scotties were tied 1-1 after the first and down 2-1 in the third, albeit on only one hit. Two wild pitches and a passed ball cost the Scotties the lead in the early innings, despite the clean-up work the infield was doing in the game.

The Scotties got the game under control in the next few innings, then pounced on Cut Bank in the last two innings. 

In the top of the fifth, with two runs already scored in the inning and the bases loaded, Jess Mehling cleared the bags with a grand slam, her seventh home run of the year. 

The Scotties scored two more runs in the inning and five more runs in the sixth to put the game far out of reach of Cut Bank. Mehling allowed only one more hit in the game, finishing with a two-hit, four strikeouts game in the win. Mehling also led the team in RBI's with six, batting two-for-three in the game.

Later in the day, the Scotties played Sunburst, a team winless in conference this season. 

This time the Scotties didn't wait to load up runs, scoring six in the first inning and 13 runs in the second. By the time the third inning rolled around the Scotties already led 19-1, a score they would hold until the end of the game.

The Scotties got their hits in too. Glasgow batted around in the first inning, a series that included a home run by Shielda Pattison, then batted around twice in the second inning. They layed up on the throttle in the final three innings, recording only three hits, but drawing five walks, working on the pitch selection coaches harped about over the last week. 

On Tuesday, the Scotties played their last road game of the regular season, showing Poplar even less mercy than Sunburst.

Backup pitcher Tyana Rasmusan no-hit the Lady Indians in a 20-0 rout. Rasmusan registered two walks, one error and six strikeouts in the outing, the first no-hitter of the season. 

The Scotties started off with a bang, scoring seven runs in the first inning and at least two runs in the next four to easily mercy Poplar.  Freshman Alex Page had three RBI's and a home run in the fifth inning, to lead the Scotties. 

Glasgow plays its final two games this weekend, the pivotal home game against Shelby on Thursday and a non-conference game on Senior Night against Sidney. Seniors Pattison, Mehling and Allyson Herman  will be honored at the game.