ROSE EARNS 700TH CAREER COACHING WIN OVER WEEKEND TOUR
Hutchinson CC Sports Information
GAINESVILLE, Texas – Hutchinson Community College head softball coach Jaime Rose earned her 700th career coaching win in game one of the Blue Dragons' win over North Central Texas College as Hutchinson went 2-2 in their weekend pair of doubleheaders in Oklahoma and Texas.
The Hutchinson Community College softball team made it a closer game two but the Blue Dragons were swept by the NJCAA Division II No. 1-ranked Murray State College Aggies Friday at MSC Softball Complex Friday in Tishomingo, Oklahoma. Murray State won 12-0 in five innings and 4-2. The Blue Dragons bounced back on Saturday in Gainesville, Texas, sweeping NCTC 8-1 and 4-3.
Blue Dragon sophomore Reese Goetz had three hits and one RBI in the Murray State series – two hits in game one and one in game two that cut the Aggie lead in half.
Kaibryn Kruger went 4-8 against NCTC, including going 3-for-5 in game one and hitting an inside-the-park home run in game two.
Hutchinson's loses to Murray State were its first losses of the regular season.
Rose's coaching career stems from coaching at Independence for two seasons before becoming the head coach at Hutchinson in 2005 as has been with the Blue Dragons ever since, coaching the team to a Region 6 Tournament championship and berth in the NJCAA Div. I Softball Championships in 2024 and a Jayhawk Conference title in 2023 and 2025.
Game 1 Recap – Murray State 12, Hutchinson 0 (5 innings)
NJCAA Division II's top-ranked team topped Hutchinson 12-0 in five innings. The Blue Dragon offense could not get started.
Sophomore first baseman Reese Goetz had the two hits for the Blue Dragons. Goetz went 2-for-2 at the plate with a pair of singles – one to lead off the top of the third and another in the top of the fifth two with two outs.
Sophomore outfielder Kaibryn Kruger reached base on a fielder's choice.
Murray State totaled 10 hits. Already leading 6-0, the Aggies had a huge bottom fourth inning to put the game into run-rule territory.
The Dragon lineup struck out six times against Aggie pitchers.
Freshman pitcher Alyssa Rogers took the loss, pitching two innings and allowing three hits, five runs – three of them unearned – and striking out a pair. Kaci Young appeared in the bottom of the third inning and went 1.2 innings before Mia Williams gave in for relief to face the final two batters of the inning.
The Blue Dragon only gave up one extra-base hit.
Game 2 Recap – Murray State 4, Hutchinson 2
Trailing 4-0 in the seventh inning, the Blue Dragons' bats finally came to life as Gabby Stauffer beat out a hard-hit ball for a base hit. After runners advanced on a dropped-third strikeout, Addi Lutz delivers a hit to score Stauffer and get Hutchinson on the board, trailing 4-1 with one out.
Then, Goetz hammered a grounder into left for an RBI single that scored pinch runner Desiray Segura to make it a 4-2 game.
With Blue Dragon runners on first and third, Murray State turned a double play to end the game and pull out the 4-2 win and sweep the Blue Dragons.
Blue Dragon freshman pitcher Hailey Ediger was hitless through four innings before a leadoff single and RBI double got Murray State going in the bottom of the fourth of game two to put the Aggies up 2-0.
The Aggies hit a two-run home run to extend the lead to 4-0 in the bottom of the sixth. That was the only home run Hutchinson allowed in the doubleheader. The Aggies are currently the NJCAA Division II leader in home runs, hits and RBIs.
Freshman Macey Stephenson led off the top of the sixth with a walk. Kruger followed up with a double to right field that put Stephenson in position to get the Blue Dragons on the board, but Murray State converted a routine groundout to strand the two Dragon runners and kept Hutchinson off the scoreboard.
Ediger threw 5.2 innings, allowed just four runs on four hits and had a pair of strikeouts.
Kruger, Lutz, O'Connor, Stauffer, and Goetz all went 1-for-3 at the plate in game two. Lutz and Goetz had an RBI each respectively.
With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth, Kruger made a tremendous home-run-robbing catch at the centerfield wall for the third out and get the Blue Dragons out of a jam.
Game 1 Recap –Hutchinson 8, NCTC 1
After going 0-2 in Friday's doubleheader with Murray State, Kruger led the Blue Dragons in game one's bounce-back win over NCTC 8-1, going 3-for-5 at the plate with a single, triple and inside-the-park home run.
Sophomore pitcher Aubree Thomas pitched a complete game for Hutchinson, allowing just one run on five hits, and strike out one in seven innings.
Hutchinson scored three runs over the first three innings – a Golly RBI single in the first, a Goetz RBI double in the second, and a Dreher RBI single in the third to lead 3-0. In the fourth inning, Kruger hit an inside-the park home run to give the Blue Dragons a 5-0 lead through four.
Dreher had three RBIs in the game while going 2-for-4 at the plate. Dreher's RBI base-hit in the seventh Golly and Emery Benson-Hladik also went 2-for-4 in game one. Goetz was 2-for-3 and had an RBI. Macey Stephenson also had a RBI and had a double in the top of the seventh to give Hutchinson an 8-1 lead.
A sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third was the lone run scored by NCTC.
Game 2 Recap – Hutchinson 4, NCTC 3
NCTC took a 3-1 lead heading into the fourth inning of game two.
With two outs in the fourth, Addi Lutz singled on a line drive hit to right field that scored Gabby Stauffer to make a 3-2 lead for NCTC. In the top of the sixth, Stephenson SAC-flied to center field to score Dreher from third base, tying the game up 3-3.
After back-to-back singles to start the seventh inning by Golly and Stauffer, Benson-Hdalik grounded out but scored pinch runner Kaci Young to take the lead 4-3.
Hailey Ediger pitched the final two innings for Hutchinson. Ediger recorded a pair of strikeouts in the final frame to strand the tying and go-ahead runners for NCTC and seal the win for Hutchinson 4-3 in game two.
Starter Mia Williams pitched 2.1 innings, allowed three runs on four hits and struck out a pair. Jessica Schmidt pitched 2.2 innings, allowed four hits but no runs. Ediger struck out three in the win.
The Blue Dragons had three stolen bases – Lutz, Desiray Segura, and Lia Martinez each stole a bag.