Katie Malone throws 11 scoreless innings in WSU softball sweep

Wichita State softball coach Kristi Bredbenner is confident in her pitching with the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament starting Friday.

She is not as confident in her team’s hitting and Saturday’s doubleheader sweep of Evansville at Wilkins Stadium provided the justification for both of Bredbenner’s stances.

WSU won the first game 4-3 in 12 innings after stranding 10 runners and going 2 for 17 with runners in scoring position against Evansville pitcher Morgan Florey. The winning run scored on a suicide squeeze to end an inning powered by small ball. The Shockers won the second game 5-0 with five first-inning runs.

“The one thing that worries me in the (tournament) is that we’re leaving a lot of opportunities for scoring more runs,” Bredbenner said. “We tried everything we possibly could in that first game in the last inning. It was three bunts in a row, and we won the game with it.”

The win in the opener, and Southern Illinois’ sweep of Missouri State, locked Wichita State into fourth place in the final MVC standings. As the No. 4 seed in the MVC Tournament, WSU plays at 11 a.m. Friday against the winner of Thursday’s game between the No. 5 and No. 8 seeds.

Sunday’s final game of the Evansville series begins at 11 a.m.

Bredbenner improved to 168-157 in six seasons at WSU and is tied with Mike Perniciaro (2006-11) for second on the school’s career wins list.

The Shockers (30-19, 15-9 MVC) won MVC titles in 2014 and 2016 with a powerful offense and acceptable pitching.

With seniors Katie Malone and Jenni Brooks in the circle, WSU’s pitching is more reliable and capable of carrying the Shockers. On Saturday, Brooks held the Aces (20-31, 11-14) to eight hits and two earned runs over eight innings, all in the first game. She departed after a two-run home run by Morgan Lambert gave Evansville a 3-1 lead in the ninth.

The Shockers tied it and Malone finished up with four scoreless innings. She threw a two-hitter in the nightcap, striking out seven.

Malone is 24-10 this season, one shy of WSU’s single-season record for wins. She has 74 career wins, three behind leader Margo Pruis (2004-07). With Brooks recovering from two off-season arm surgeries, Malone took much of the pitching burden in the season’s first six weeks. She responded with the best season of her career and a 2.21 earned run average, down from 4.18 as a junior.

“She’s become a smarter pitcher,” Bredbenner said. “Her first couple of years she tried to muscle the ball by everybody because she had some speed. Now she’s learned to spot it. She’s literally just spotting fastballs, keeping the ball down.”

Malone’s off-season motivation sprang from last season’s uneven performance, not the knowledge she needed to eat up innings while Brooks rehabbed. Malone returned for her senior season in great physical shape, improved her changeup and banished thoughts that kept her from enjoying the game.

“I wanted to do better than I did last year and really go out with a bang,” she said. “I’m definitely more confident in myself and my pitches. If I don’t have confidence, I’m not an effective pitcher.”

In her 11 scoreless innings on Saturday, Malone allowed three hits, struck out 13 and walked two.

Her four innings in relief of Brooks gave WSU’s offense time to manufacture the winning run. Kelli Spring bunted her way on and stole second. A sacrifice bunt moved her to third. Macklin Hitz put down a suicide squeeze and Spring slid in just ahead of the tag to end the game.

Spring said she had Bredbenner give her suicide sign twice to make sure.

“I was confident in Mac, because she’s a good bunter,” Spring said. “And then I’m confident in my speed and I knew if she gets on the ground, I was going to score.”

The game matched three others, most recently in 2009 at Evansville, as the longest in WSU history. The Shockers won all four.

The Shockers trailed 3-1 entering the bottom of the ninth inning. Laurie Derrico’s home run cut the lead to one run. Mackenzie Wright’s sacrifice fly — a running snag of a line drive by Aces left fielder Ashlee Kawall — tied it. Kawall’s play held WSU’s Ashley Johnson at second base and a fly ball ended the inning.

WSU battered Evansville starter Ashleigh Downing for six hits in the first inning of the second game. McKenzie Adams and Hitz both drove in two runs with doubles. Derrico ended the scoring with her RBI double.

This story was originally published May 6, 2017 at 7:13 PM with the headline "Katie Malone throws 11 scoreless innings in WSU softball sweep."