4/6/2026 Fulton, MO–The Westminster Blue Jays softball team returned home to play a two-game set against conference rival Lyon on Monday. The Jays entered this series 8-15 on the season; Lyon, 4-16. Both teams looked to improve their poor records in this big conference series.
In the series opener, the Jays went to their most trusted pitcher, Madison Plybon. The righty faced trouble early, though, as with two runners, an error brought home a run, and another unearned run scored with two outs in the inning. The Blue Jays answered back with three unearned runs of their own, as
Morgan Rusley came around to score after reaching on an error, and later in the inning,
Amber Dierling hit into a fielder's choice that drove the game-leading unearned run in. The game's sixth, seventh, and eighth runs were all unearned as well. Lyon scored in the third to tie the game off an error, and Westminster retook the lead in the fourth as
Ellie Schisler doubled in another unearned run. Schisler later scored after
Carlie Regier reached on yet another Lyon error. The game's first earned run came in the fifth inning.
Ellie Schisler doubled home
Paige Cruzan, who reached by way of a single. This was Schisler's third hit and RBI of the day. Lyon scored their first earned run of the day in the sixth, but Plybon shut the door on any hopes of a comeback. Westminster won this sloppy matchup 6-4.
Game 2: W, 10-2
After a game where errors were at the forefront, Lyon started the scoring off with a long ball that no fielder had a chance to boot. The third inning homer put Lyon up 2-0. Starting pitcher Payton Duddenhoeffer and the Blue Jay defense locked things down after that. Lyon failed to score a single run as Duddenhoeffer pitched a complete game, and the defense did not make a single error. The Blue Jay offense didn't leave anything up to chance either. The bats immediately responded with a three-run
Chloe Ferguson homer of their own and a two-RBI single by
Amber Dierling in the bottom half of the frame to take a 5-2 lead. That wasn't the end of the scoring, though; in the very next inning, Ferguson and Dierling each drove in two more runs, increasing the lead to seven. After a clean final inning, the Jays won this one 10-2 and swept the series.
