Red Devils struggle in road doubleheaders

A weekend in Arkansas City and Independence didn’t go as well as hoped for Allen Community College’s softball squad.
The Red Devils dropped both games of their doubleheaders Friday and Saturday, losing Friday at seventh-ranked Cowley County 8-0 and 12-1. Allen traveled to Independence Saturday, dropping games by scores of 12-3 and 10-4.
Cowley 8, Allen 0
Cowley struck for one in the first, two in the second and five in the third while the Red Devils were limited to three singles — Kaitlin Rash’s leadoff hit in the second, Annie Gentry’s leadoff single in the fourth and Bailey Burnett’s two-out hit in the fifth.
Audra Nelson took the loss, giving up eight hits and a walk with a strikeout.
“Audra wasn’t getting a lot of calls from the umpire, and it flustered her a bit,” Allen coach Jamie Amerine said. “She had to put the balls in the strike zone and they started hitting them.”
Cowley 11, Allen 1
The trend continued in the second game. The Tigers scored two in the first, five in the second and four in the third.
The Red Devils’ sole run came when Mary Reilly drove in Kaitlyn Rash with a second-inning single. Rash led off the inning with a single.
Rash gave up 11 hits and three walks in taking the loss.
Independence 12,
Allen 3
A six-run second inning and five more in the third did the trick for Independence.
The Red Devils broke through for two in the third, courtesy of Tyler Easum’s two-run single, and one in the fifth, when Easum’s single drove in Kaitlin Norris.
Easum and Norris each had two singles. Reilly had a double. Paige Rothwell and Rash also singled.
Nelson got the start and took the loss, giving up seven hits and three walks. Rash came on in relief, giving up four hits and two walks with two strikeouts.
“We hit better, but we just have trouble stringing together hits for more offense,” Amerine said. “Our defense committed a couple of big errors.”
Independence 10,
Allen 4
The Pirates sported ACC an early 1-0 lead before scoring three in the bottom of the first and three more in the second to lead 6-1.
Rothwell’s two-run blast in the top of the third cut the gap to 6-3. She led off the sixth with a double, then scored when Reilly followed with a two-base hit.
But Allen, trailing 7-4, could not score again despite loading the bases with one out. Independence responded with three more runs in the bottom of the sixth to seal the win.
Rash started and gave up seven hits and a walk with one strikeout. Nelson relieved and gave up six hits and five walks. She struck out two.
Rothwell went 2-for-3 with a home run and double; Reilly had a double and single. Norris and Gentry both singled for ACC.
“We seem to have a couple of big errors each game, which hurt us,” Amerine said.
The Red Devils don’t have much time to mope. Allen is scheduled to host Johnson County in a doubleheader today and Fort Scott on Tuesday for two more, weather permitting. Allen then heads to Cottey College in Nevada, Mo., Thursday before hosting St. Louis Community College Saturday.