The Lady Blues softball team dropped a pair of one-run games last Friday in the Central Oklahoma Classic in Mustang, Okla.

The Lady Blues fell to Midwestern State 10-9, and then to Central Oklahoma 5-4. Washburn is now 4-4 on the season.

The Lady Blues led Midwestern State 8-4 in the top of the seventh inning, but surrendered six runs to fall behind 10-8, eventually losing. Ashley Webb, senior center fielder, was 3 for 4 with five RBIs, and Brooke DeVader, junior shortstop, was 2 for 3 with an RBI.

Megan Kimerer, freshman pitcher, picked up the loss. The loss was the first of the season for Kimerer.

Against Central Oklahoma, Kelly Swygert, junior pitcher, pitched into the last inning but gave up the winning run in the bottom of the seventh. DeVader was 2 for 3 with two RBIs. Whitney Tapp, freshman catcher, was also 2 for 3.

“Overall, after being stuck inside for a month, we’ve done some good things,” said Lisa Carey, Washburn head softball coach. “[At the West Texas A&M Tournament Feb. 23-25] we played well, but our big test is over the next couple weeks. At Central Oklahoma we play a few ranked teams, and then next week we have a couple of doubleheader home games.”

Based on the season so far, Carey has high hopes for the team.

“One through nine has been getting the job done,” said Carey. “Our pitching and defense have been good, so if that just stays strong we can do some things.”

One of the surprise players for Carey’s team so far this year is Tish Williams, redshirt freshman third baseman from Edmond, Okla. Williams is batting .464 with one home run and seven RBIs.

“[Williams is] a good athlete,” said Carey. “She’s young, but I recruited her to step in and do some good things. She’s been very consistent with her stick.”

Also performing well early on is DeVader, who has a .480 batting average with two home runs and four RBIs.

Washburn plays the first of two home doubleheaders at 1 p.m., Tuesday, March 6, against Pittsburg State, and again at 1 p.m., Wednesday, March 7, against Ottawa. The Lady Blues only have eight home games scheduled for this season.

Washburn then travels to Austin, Texas to play in the St. Edward’s University Invite, March 9-11. In that tournament, the Lady Blues will match up against New Mexico Highlands, Incarnate Word, St. Mary’s (Texas), St. Edwards (Texas) and Baker.

Looking further down the road, Washburn will play in the Emporia State University Tournament, March 17-18. The Lady Blues will face Central Oklahoma, Minnesota-Crookston, Bemidji State, Fort Hays State and Cameron. The Lady Blues next home game after those tournaments is 5 p.m., Wednesday, April 11, against Emporia State. The game will be played at Hummer Sports Park in Topeka.

“Right now we just need to maintain our focus at practices,” said Carey. “We need to keep things short and sweet, and stay with the lifting program. We haven’t really played enough and made many mistakes to know what we need to work on. We’ve been playing pretty well overall and the next couple of weeks will be a big test.”