Missed opportunities plague Live Oak in 5-3 loss to Westmont

Three times Live Oak brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh against Westmont but only got one run to show for it.
As a result, the Acorns fell 5-3 to the Warriors in a game marred by errors and missed opportunities.
“I think we were in the game, but I think we would have been a lot more competitive if we made just a few more adjustments at the plate,” said coach Sarah Locarnini.
Neither team had production from the bottom of their lineups, as all 13 hits came from the one through five hitters on both teams.
Westmont’s one through four batters went a combined 7-12 with three RBIs and five runs scored. Live Oak’s one through five hitters went a combined 6-15 with three RBIs and three runs scored.
Westmont’s bottom half went a combined 0-14 with a walk, while Live Oak’s six through nine hitters went 0-12.
The bright spot in Live Oak’s day came from Maddie Gallagher, who pitched three innings of relief, as well as playing one inning in left field, making two great plays.
“She came in really hot and strong. They got a couple of hits off of her, but that’s going to happen,” Locarnini said. “On defense, she did a fabulous job today.”
She yielded one run on three hits to close out the game.
Gallagher stood in for Vanessa Ramos, who left after four innings of work, giving up four runs—two earned—on four hits and two walks with three strikeouts.
After stepping out of the circle, Ramos made her presence known in left field, making recording two outs on a pair of well hit shots.
The Acorns stranded runners at second and third in the first and fourth innings that failed to come in to score and it proved costly in the later innings.
Live Oak found itself down three going into the final half inning and the Acorns did what they needed to do to get back in the game: They got the first two hitters on base.
Kaylie Lowery led off the inning with a pop fly that the third baseman mishandled and eventually booted into the Live Oak dugout, putting Lowery on second. Jordyn Campbell followed by getting hit by a pitch.
After Ianna Schlaefli advanced Lowery and Campbell on a ground out to short, Tiffany Moore drove in Lowery with a sacrifice fly to center.
But that was as much as Live Oak would get.
Pitcher Chelsea Skipper got out of the inning by inducing a ground ball to end the game.
The entire day, Live Oak had chances against Skipper who was anything but sharp throughout the game.
In the first inning alone, 15 of her 29 pitches were out of the strikezone, but it led to just one walk, which Schlaefli drew after running the count full.
Before Schlaefli reached, Campbell lined a single into shallow right that went through the legs of the right fielder for a two-base error.
But the opportunity fell by the wayside when Skipper got a ground ball and a strikeout to end the inning.
Live Oak threatened again in the fourth when Moore led off with a double and Vanessa Ramos followed with a single.
But with two runners in scoring position after Ramos stole second, Live Oak meekly ended the inning with a strikeout looking, a soft popup to the pitcher and finally a flyout to center.
Moore went 1-2 with an RBI and a walk despite playing in obvious pain from an injury suffered in a pervious game.
“She’s tough. She always finds a way to make sure she’s in the game. She’ll be alright,” Locarnini said.
Meanwhile, the top of Westmont’s lineup capitalized where Live Oak couldn’t.
A one-out walk to Sydney Johnson turned into a run when Live Oak’s left fielder misplayed a ball hit through the infield, putting Skipper on third with one out.
Cleanup hitter Courtney Clevenger drove Skipper in with a sacrifice fly to center.
Later in the third inning,
Danielle Stedman reached on an infield single with one out and scored two batters later on a double from Skipper.
Skipper scored one batter later when Clevenger hit a single to left field that was misplayed to allow Skipper to score easily.
Trailing 4-0 in the fifth, Ramos hit a double with the bases loaded to score two runs to cut the lead in half.
The top of Westmont’s lineup struck again in the seventh when Stedman hit a two-out double and scored on a single from Johnson to put the Warriors up 5-2.
Live Oak now enters the final two weeks of its season, featuring three straight road games before closing things out against Piedmont Hills on May 14.