Waterloo West star Jadyn Spencer drew seven walks in a doubleheader against Xavier Thursday night, as Saints pitchers tried their best to keep the ball away from the state's all-time home run leader at the plate.

The fact that she wasn’t able to hack away at the plate must have frustrated Spencer, which was bad news for the Xavier batting lineup.

Appearing on the mound in both games, Spencer fanned a total of 26 Xavier batters and helped the Wahawks sweep the Saints. West won the first game 6-1 and the nightcap 4-1 in eight innings at Bob Erusha Field.

“She is just dominant,” said Xavier Coach Brian Erbe.

Starting on the mound in the first game, Spencer went the complete game, striking out 16 of the 24 batters she faced to get the win.

“Not only is she quick, but she has all the pitches,” said Erbe. “She is up, she is out, she is down and she has a great changeup. I thought she was just masterful.”

Xavier (28-12, 18-8) scored one run in the fifth inning, when designated hitter Emily Walton caught up to one of Spencer’s pitches and smacked it over the right field wall for a solo home run.

The nightcap was an exciting affair, as the Wahawks won a pitchers duel, 4-1 in extra innings after West hitter Lindsey Hansen hit a go-ahead three-run home run in the top of the eighth inning.

Tied 1-1 for the majority of the game, the Saints were looking good, riding eighth grade pitcher Erin Drahozal, who pitched all eight innings.

With tension mounting in the top of the eight inning, Drahozal walked Spencer and the next hitter reached on an error. This brought up Hansen, who wasted no time, belting the first pitch she saw over the left field wall to give West the lead, 4-1.

“She (Drahozal) pitched a great game. That was a very good pitch that Hansen hit. It was down and in but she went down and got it,” said Erbe. “I wasn’t going to let Spencer beat us at the plate.”

The three-run lead for West (28-11, 20-5) was more than enough because earlier in the game, Waterloo decided to relieve starting pitcher MacKenzie Vandenberg and bring Spencer back to the pitcher's circle.

“In the second game we didn’t get to that second pitcher enough,” said Erbe. “I would have done the same thing by bringing (Spencer) back in because we didn’t touch her in the first game.”

Courtney Colston and Kelsey Kuba-Tresnak each had two hits in the second game for the Saints.

“We just need to re-focus and get ready for Saturday night,” said Erbe.

Xavier hosts Prairie Saturday at 7 p.m. in the first round of the regional softball tournament.


Game 1

WATERLOO WEST (6)
Spencer, p, 1 3 1 0, Payne, 1b, 5 1 2 0, Hansen, cf, 4 1 1 2, Burkhart, lf, 3 0 0 0, Vandenberg, c, 4 0 3 4, Dahlgaard, 3b, 3 0 2 0, Lichty, 2b, 3 0 0 0, Stackhouse, dh, 3 0 0 0, Doering, lf, 4 1 2 0, Medina, 1 0 0 0, Jones, ss, 1 0 0 0  Totals  39 6 11 6.

XAVIER (1)
Bedard, 3b, 3 0 0 0, Colston, rf, 3 0 0 0, Sampson, ss, 3 0 1 0, Winter, 2b, 2 0 0 0, Walton, dh, 3 1 1 1, Schulte, 1b, 3 0 0 0, Kuba-Tresnak, cf, 2 0 0 0, Miller, c, 2 0 0 0, Galligan, lf, 2 0 0 0  Totals  24 1 2 0.

West      201 102 0  -  6 11 1
Xavier      000 010 0  -  1 2 2

Spencer and Vandenberg.  Wiebold and Miller.  W – Spencer. L –Wiebold. 2B - Vandenberg. HR - Walton.  SB - Spencer 2, Hansen, Burkhart.

Game 2

WATERLOO WEST (4)
Spencer, ss, 1 1 0 0, Payne, 1b, 4 1 0 0, Hansen, cf, 4 2 2 3, Burkhart, lf, 4 0 0 0, Vandenberg, p, 4 0 0 1, Dahlgaard, 3b, 3 0 1 0, Lichty, 2b, 2 0 0 0, Stackhouse, dh, 3 0 0 0, Doering, rf, 2 0 0 0 Totals  32 4 3 4.

XAVIER (1)
Bedard, 3b, 4 0 0 0, Colston, rf, 4 1 2 1, Sampson, ss, 4 0 1 0, Winter, 2b, 4 0 0 0, Walton, c, 3 0 0 0, Schulte, 1b, 4 0 1 0, Kuba-Tresnak, cf, 4 0 2 0, Drahozal, p, 3 0 0 0, Ireland, lf, 3 0 0 0  Totals  34 1 6 1.

West    000 100 0 3 -  4 3 1
Xavier   001 000 0 0 -  1 6 2

Vandenberg, Spencer (5) and Chilcote, Vandenberg (5). Drahozal and Walton. W - Spencer. L - Drahozal. 2B - Colston. HR - Hansen. SB - Colston, Winter.