The Allen Community College Red Devils extended their win streak to six games after sweeping the Hesston Larks in Thursday’s doubleheader, 17-9 and 16-9.
While a nine-run fourth inning made the difference in the opener, steady run production set the Red Devils apart in the finale as they pulled themselves one game from .500 with an 11-12 record and tied for first in the Jayhawk Conference at 2-0.
With recent Jayhawk Conference Player of the Week pitcher Camrynn Yardley out with an unspecified injury, sophomore Abby Marsh got the start in the opener and tallied a strikeout while allowing six earned runs and three walks. As the two teams engaged in an offensive dogfight, Marsh picked up her only RBI of the opener when she gave Allen the lead on a fourth-inning RBI fly ball. Marsh seemed to light a fuse as the Red Devils added seven more runs by the end of the frame to take control.
From there, singles by freshman catcher Makayla Hirschmann, sophomore outfielder Kennedy Mead and a two-RBI single by sophomore shortstop Bailey Campbell took Allen’s lead to 14-7.
Hesston chipped away at Allen’s lead with a pair of runs to start the fifth inning, but it was not enough to sway the momentum. Freshman third baseman Kaylse Abernathy showed her glove isn’t the only reason she broke into the lineup after an RBI single in response, then scored from third after a miscue on a pickoff attempt, which pulled the Red Devils in striking distance of a run-rule victory.
Freshman pinch hitter Karley McNamee made the most of her fifth-inning at-bat with an RBI grounder. Freshman outfielder Ella McCammon capped off her day with an RBI triple in her final at-bat. The triple gave her four RBIs for the game, which passed Abernathy’s three RBIs. Abernathy was perfect in the batter’s box after hitting 3 of 3 while Hirschmann hit 3 of 4. Campbell hit 2 of 3 and sophomore second baseman Paxton Meyer hit 2 of 3 while also having a few highlight-reel plays on defense.
Instead of allowing the Larks to set the tone in game two, the Red Devils took the initiative by getting on the scoreboard with a first inning sacrifice fly ball by Meyer. A two-RBI double by sophomore first baseman Jena Hendrix, then a follow-up double by Abernathy put Allen up 4-1, but the Red Devils were not out of the woods yet. 
Freshman third baseman Kaylse Abernathy slides into home after capitalizing on a pickoff attempt at third base.
A pair of four-run innings in the second and the third put the Larks up 9-6, but that was as close to victory as Hesston would get Thursday. A fourth-inning grand slam by sophomore outfielder Kaylee Spreer put Allen back in the driver’s seat 10-9. The Red Devils added a pair of runs in the fourth on a Meyer triple and a Hendrix single. Allen put the game away in the sixth with a base-clearing Meyer triple and an Abernathy RBI grounder.
Meyer ended the day with a team-leading five RBIs, followed by Spreer and Abernathy, who each had four. 
The Red Devils hope to stay atop the Jayhawk Conference standings this weekend with a Saturday doubleheader at Fort Scott (6-12, 0-2). They open April next Thursday with a four-game homestand with games slated against Labette (4-14, 0-2) April 3 and Kansas City Kansas Community College (16-10, 2-0) April 5.
