The Journal

Issue date: 4/7/05 Section: Sports

Freshman Jessie Jo Warner barely makes it back to first base after straying too far from the bag between pitches March 30.

The Webster University softball team saw a week of non-stop action as they played 14 games in seven days. The Gorloks battled injury and fatigue as they claimed 12 victories on the week. Losing only twice, they bettered their overall record to 19-3.

Sophomore Kelly Dean said the week has been hard physically and mentally.

"Emotionally I think we are all kind of at our wits' end," said Dean. "It's been rough on everybody, but I'm really impressed with our team."

Freshman firstbaseman Chrissy Engle plays with a broken finger on her glove hand. Sophomore catcher Heather Ashman squats behind the plate despite torn ligaments in her knee and sophomore Jen Brandenberger is battles shin problems.

Freshman Gail Vogt was named the St. Louis Inner Collegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) pitcher of the week for the week of March 28-April 3. Vogt compiled a 6-0 record with a 0.37 ERA as the Gorloks went 10-2 during the week.

Among her six victories were three shutouts, 3-0 over Blackburn, 7-0 against Hannibal-LaGrange, and an extra inning 1-0 win over Millikin to salvage the second game of a doubleheader for her team. Her 7-1 victory over Illinois College also salvaged the second game of a doubleheader.

Each week SLIAC names a pitcher and hitter of the week. Vogt is the second Webster pitcher to be named player of the week. Freshmen Amanda Miller was also selected two weeks ago.

Vogt said she was surprised when she learned of her pitcher of the week honors and said she didn't realize she had collected so many wins. She credits her team in helping her earn the title.

"It's a very good working environment," Vogt said. "There is a great support system. The bats are a big support. I feel comfortable and if the other team scores a run I know we can come back."

Vogt said she didn't know what to expect coming into college. She knew it would be competitive and she didn't know how she would fit into the team that was already there.

Dean credits the pitchers as playing a big role on this year's team. She said they came through making it hard for other teams to score.

"I think we have 100-something runs compared to other teams who have like 30 on the season," Dean said.

Strong pitching and fierce bats have kept Webster at the top of SLIAC battling Maryville University and Fontbonne University for first place. Webster will host Maryville at 5 p.m April 8 at Blackburn Park. Dean and Vogt both feel confident in their team's ability to win.

"They should be scared of us more than we should be scared of them," Dean said. "They showed up for our second game today. We scored 12 runs and were just killing the ball into the outfield."

Vogt echoed Dean.

"They were here taking notes," Vogt said. "I think they are scared. We're not sending our players, not that we've had time, to scout them. We're ready. We had a list of teams we wanted to beat and they are one of them. If we play our game they'll have to beat a really tough team."

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