GOETZ, DRAGONS PUT UP STAGGERING NUMBERS VS. SAINTS

Aspen Goetz breaks two single-game record and tied three others after going 6 for 6 with three home runs, two doubles and 10 RBIs in a 28-2 Blue Dragon victory over Seward County on Wednesday in Liberal. (Andrew Carpenter/Blue Dragon Sports Information)

March 22, 2023

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

LIBERAL – The No. 15-ranked Hutchinson Community College softball team tied a single-game program record for runs scored while sophomore first baseman Aspen Goetz broke two program single-game records and tied three others in Game 1 of a Jayhawk Conference doubleheader sweep of Seward County on Wednesday.

The Blue Dragons ran their win streak to 10 games with five-inning run-rule victories of 28-2 and 13-5 over Seward County on a blustery day at Saints Field.

Hutchinson improves to 23-5 overall and 11-1 in the KJCCC standings. The Blue Dragons travel to Pratt on Saturday for games at Noon and 2 p.m. at Lemon Park in Pratt. Seward County fell to 12-18 overall and 7-7 in league play.

The Blue Dragons' 28-run offensive output in Game 1 tied the 2018 single-game record set against the Bethel College Junior Varsity on February 27 at Fun Valley. This was the 15th game of 20 or more runs in the Jaime Rose era and the second this season (22 vs. Northwest Tech).

Goetz had a career game against the Saints in Game 1. The sophomore first baseman went 6 for 6 with three home runs, two doubles, five runs scored and 10 runs batted in.
+ Goetz's 10 RBIs smashed the old record of seven set by seven others, most recently by Taylor Ullery on March 4, 2020 at Colby.
+ Goetz amassed a school single-game record of 17 total bases, breaking the mark of Makenzi Shackley, who had 13 total bases against Dodge City on March 25, 2014.
+ Goetz's six total hits tied a single-game record originally set by Sarah Walkup against Pratt on May 5, 2007.
+ Goetz became the fourth Blue Dragon with a three home-run game. Sarah Rothe matched that mark twice on March 14, 2014 against Hesston College and again on February 20, 2015 against Ranger College. Shackley had three homers against Dodge City on March 25, 2014. The feat most recently occurred on April 24, 2018 when Raven Bass hit three homers against the Bethany College JV at Fun Valley.
+ Goetz's five runs scored tied three others for that single-game record – Kailey Jenkins scored five against Brown Mackie on March 9, 2014, Ullery had five against the Sterling College JV on April 17, 2019 and Madison Grimes scored five against Fort Scott on February 5, 2021.

Goetz kept on hitting in Game 2. She had two singles and three RBIs in her first two at-bats and wound up 7 for 9 with 13 RBIs and six runs scored in Wednesday's doubleheader.

In addition to the tying the single-game runs record, the Blue Dragons added the following entries into the team single-game Top 10 lists:
+ The Dragons hit nine doubles, which were the second most in program history.
+ The 25 combined RBIs tied for the second most in program history.
+ The 23 total hits tied for sixth most in program history.
+ The four home runs tied for sixth most in program history.
+ The Blue Dragons had a 12-run second inning in Game 1 on Wednesday. That tied for the third-largest single inning in team history.

GAME 1 RECAP
Goetz's three-run home run in the first inning was just a start for the Blue Dragons on Wednesday. Hutchinson scored 12 in the second, six runs each in the third and fourth innings and a single run in the fifth.

Eight different Blue Dragons had multi-hit games and the Dragons, 12 different players scored runs and eight different players had at least one RBI.

Ella Dougherty was 2 for 3 with a pair of walks and a double. She had a career-high four RBIs and tied a career best with four runs scored.

Riley Wertz was 2 for 4 with a home run, double, three RBIs and two runs scored.

Grimes drove in three runs, going 2 for 4 with a walk and double. Korri Lies was 2 for 2 with two doubles and an RBI. Allie Stipsits was 2 for 6 with three runs and an RBI. Tamara Lozoya was 2 for 2 with a double and RBI with a run scored. Olivia Sandoval went 2 for 6 and Preslee Irwin had a double and two RBIs.

Starting pitcher Delaney Blakesley improved to 3-0 with three shutout innings. She struck out two and walked one with two hits allowed. Kierstan Weitze and Lies each worked one inning of relief.

GAME 2 RECAP
Sandoval tied a season high with her third five RBI game of the season in Game 2. The freshman third baseman was 3 for 4 with a double and a grand slam in the third inning to lead Hutchinson's 13-hit attack.

The Dragons had four more big innings, scoring four in the first, two in the second, four in the third and three in the fifth inning.

Dougherty was 3 for 4 with a pair of runs. Goetz went 2 for 4 with three RBIs. Grimes was 2 for 4. Wertz hit her second home run of the doubleheader, a two-run blast to center in the fifth inning. Alexis Mastin also drove in a run with an RBI single in the first inning.

Lies was the winning pitcher with 2 1-3 innings of relief work of Morgan Pennycuff. Seward County had seven hits in the second game, getting two homers from Marisela Landa, who drove in four runs.