Lady Tigers extend win streak to double digits

The Mountain Home Lady Tigers extended their win streak in softball to ten straight, with wins over Middleton and Nampa last week.

Mtn. Home 10

Middleton 1

The Lady Tigers went to Middleton last Tuesday to finish out the first time around against their SIC 4A conference opponents and came away with a 10-1 win over the Lady Vikings.

Mountain Home came up against Middleton's Whitney Theil, whose pitching speed was a lot slower than what they had been facing. It took a few innings to make the adjustments, but the Lady Tigers finally got on the scoreboard in the third, and added another run in the fourth.

Tawni Downen put the game out of reach with a three-run home run over the left field fence to put Mountain Home up 6-0 in the fifth. The Lady Tigers added four more in the seventh to ice the win, 10-1.

Middleton's lone run came in the sixth, as the result of an error.

Nickayla Skinner held Middleton to just three hits while striking out 15 batters, striking out each batter in the lineup at least once.

"It wasn't pretty early, but we got it done. The bats came alive and we took care of another league foe. A couple of the girls that had been in kind of a slump got the bat on the ball tonight, so hopefully that turns things around and good things come the rest of the week."

The Lady Tigers pounded out 15 hits, led by Ashley Christiansen who had four of them, including three doubles and an RBI. Kelsie Hopkins, Nickayla Skinner, and Krista Gillaspy each had two hits, Hopkins had a double, Gillaspy a triple, and both had doubles and RBIs. Arlene Futch, Lindsey Sessions, Breann Christiansen, Tawni Downen and Charde Huntington all had hits, Downen's was a three-run home run, Futch and Huntington both had RBIs.

The win improved the Lady Tigers to 7-0 after the first time around in conference play. Coach Asbury expects it to be tougher the second time through the schedule.

"Every team's getting better. We can't overlook anybody, this league's pretty diverse, so we've got to come out each night ready to play."

Mtn. Home 7

Nampa 0

Nickayla Skinner had to settle for a one-hitter as she struck out 17 and won her ninth game of the season as the Lady Tigers beat Nampa 7-0 Thursday at Mountain Home.

Nickayla Skinner was one out away from a no-hitter when Kelly Lester reached base on an error, extending the inning. Whitney Warner followed with a single for Nampa's one and only hit. Skinner provided all the runs she needed with a three-run home run in the fifth.

"It was a good win," said Coach Asbury after the game. "A tough conference. Any time a conference win comes around we'll take it, but we've got some work to do to reach our ultimate goal, so it's back to work tomorrow."

Kelsey Hopkins, Nickayla Skinner, Breann Christiansen and Charde Huntington each had two hits. Skinner had a home run and three RBIs, Hopkins also had an RBI. Tawni Downen had a hit and RBI, and Arlene Futch also had a hit.

The win improved the Lady Tigers to 10-1 on the season and 8-0 in conference play. They hosted Kuna Tuesday, travel to Columbia on Thursday, and host Burley for two on Saturday.