Ravens Softball continued their strong play in conference with a home sweep Saturday afternoon.

The Ravens won Game 1, 9-0, in 5 innings, then completed the sweep with a 4-3 win in extra innings.

Game 1

The Ravens slugged their way to a run-rule, 5-inning win in Saturday's opener.

Alena Velilla kicked things off with a grand slam in the bottom of the second, scoring Kaylee Norris, Lauren Gaitley and Megan White.

After Kaleigh Small doubled, Rhiannon Martin lifted a 2-run homer to left field to put the Ravens up 6-0.

Velilla tripled to lead off the bottom of the fourth and scored on Small's sacrifice fly to give the Ravens a 7-0 lead.

The final blow came in the bottom of the fifth inning when White drilled a 2-run home run to left to force the run-rule, 9-0 finish.

Bailey Selvage and Kaelyn Conrad combined for the shutout win in the circle. Selvage pitched the first 2 innings, striking out 3 batters. Conrad (4-0) pitched the final 3 innings with 5 strikeouts to earn the win.
 
Game 2

Saturday's finale was a more tightly-contested battle, as the Ravens earned the sweep with a 4-3 win in extra innings.

The Wildcats scored a run in the top of the first inning, but the Ravens took the lead in the bottom of the fourth. White singled home Abby Reynolds, then White scored on a double by Gaitley to give the Ravens a 2-1 lead.

The Wildcats answered in the next frame, scoring 1 run charged to Ravens starter Lily SinghDhillon and a second run charged to Selvage, who came on in relief, to move in front 3-2.


The Ravens leveled the score, 3-3, in the bottom of the sixth when White hit a ground-rule double to score Amanda Waymire. The Ravens were a bit unlucky, though, as Reagan Enright would have scored on the play if the ball hadn't bounced over the fence. As it was, Enright was stranded on third to end in the inning and the game eventually went to extra innings.

The Ravens broke the tie and earned the win in the ninth. Gaitley singled and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Norris. Ryan Cooper worked a walk, then Gaitley scored the winning run on Velilla's single to left field.
Gaitley finished the game with 3 hits, including 2 doubles.

Selvage (8-4) struck out 8 in 4.2 innings in relief to earn the win. SinghDhillon had 4 strikeouts in 4.1 innings of work.

The (RV) Ravens (18-8, 5-1 Heart) return to action at 12 p.m. Sunday, March 22 at Graceland University.