3/15/2026 Fulton, MO – The Westminster Blue Jays women's softball team opened their season with a Saturday doubleheader against Illinois College.
Game 1 L 0-7
The first game started loudly, as Senior Payton Dudenhoeffer gave up a leadoff home run. Possibly rattled, Dudenhoeffer hit the next batter, who ended up scoring off a Blue Jay error, doubling the lead. The second inning started similarly, another leadoff homer for Illinois College. This time, however, Dudenhoeffer collected herself and retired the next three batters. In the third inning, Illinois College would run Dudenhoeffer from the game as she gave up one more run without recording an out.
Lilli Anne Readenour was called upon to escape the mess without giving up any additional runs. Readenour would pitch the rest of the game, only giving up one earned run. While all this action was happening on the defensive side, the offense stayed quiet, only mustering one extra base hit and failing to score any runs. The Jays would lose the home opener by a final score of 0-7.
Game 2 L 4-5
Madison Plybon started the second game of the doubleheader. Illinois College started the game by, once again, putting pressure on the Jays. The combination of a walk, a wild pitch, and an error would put the Blue Jays at a 1-0 disadvantage. The trend of leadoff home runs stayed the same, too, as in the third, Illinois College started their third inning of the day with a long ball. And the Jays, similarly to the first game, felt the pressure from the homer and unraveled from there, giving up two more runs, bringing the deficit to five. Westminster started to fight back, however, in the bottom half of the frame. The first four batters reached base, two of whom scored from a Yadi Montes double, and an
Ellie Schisler fielder's choice. The bottom of the sixth showed more of the same. The first five batters reached base, leading to two runs, but Illinois College would work out of what was a bases-loaded jam to maintain their lead. In the last inning, the Blue Jays could not recapture their previous momentum, going one, two, three, to lose the game 4-5.
The Blue Jay Softball team is now 1-8 on the young season. They will go to Florida starting March 19th for their spring break trip, hoping to turn their rough start to the season around.
