EDWARDSVILLE – Edwardsville softball pitcher Lauren Dial pitched very well after coming on in the second inning to relieve starter Kay Swanson, allowing only one run on three hits while striking out four in a 3-1 loss to Hardin Calhoun Monday afternoon at the Edwardsville Sports Complex.
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The run came in the fifth inning on a pair of bloop doubles that landed just inside the lines that allowed the Warriors to score. Dial did a very good job of holding down the fort to keep the Tigers in the game and giving them a chance.
“Yes, we did have a very good show,” Dial said in a post-game interview. “It was just the timely hitting that we just struggled on a little bit.”
The Tigers scored a run to make it 2-1 in the third inning, and had a chance to score more, along with chances in the fourth and fifth innings. But Baalman came up with the big outs when she needed them. Dial agreed that Baalman had a good performance on the day.
“She performed very well,” Dial said. “She got ahead of batters, and she made us chase, which we should have stayed a little bit more down on our legs, but we need to learn, and face better pitchers like this.”
With the IHSA post-season coming up in the next few weeks, and the Southwestern Conference race beginning to heat up a bit, Dial is looking ahead to the conference race and improve as a team.
“Well, of course, we want to win the conference,” Dial said. “It’s our big goal. And we just want to get ahead of every team.”
As far as Dial’s individual goals, she had some very simple ones as well.
“I want to prove every single game,” Dial said, “and just keep on attacking every single batter.”
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