East Union senior Mikayla Simpson allowed just three hits while striking out 11 batters en route to an 8-2 victory over Ripon in a mid-season non-conference match-up Monday afternoon.

“I just love getting reps,” Simpson said. “To play like this today is a huge confidence boost not only for me, but for my team, and I hope I can continue to pitch like this for the remainder of the Valley Oak League schedule.”

Simpson didn’t allow her first hit in the game until a fourth-inning triple from Ripon standout Izabelle Spurzem.

“We’ve really been preaching to our staff the importance of getting ahead in the first three pitches,” East Union coach Dylan DeBrouwer said. “Mikayla did a really good job of that today and has been doing a good job of it the last few weeks during league play.”

East Union (5-7) opened VOL play losing three of their first four games, two of which were tightly-contested, low-scoring games. Monday’s non-conference tilt offered an opportunity for DeBrouwer’s offense to get itself going offensively.

The Lancers wasted no time in getting on the scoreboard, manufacturing a pair of runs in the top of the first behind timely hitting and good base running. East Union would go on to score multiple runs in three innings, racking up seven steals on the basepaths in the game.

“I thought our approach with two strikes was a lot better today than it’s been in previous games,” DeBrouwer said. “It felt really good to generate some offense, especially against a tough team that is having a really good year.”

Savanna Lopez set the tone for the Lancers at top of the order, going 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Lily Pickering also recorded two hits and knocked in a pair of runs on one of the key hits in the game, a two-out, two-strike base hit that extended the lead from 2-0 to 4-0 in the third inning.

For Ripon (7-6), Tuesday’s loss comes after it opened Trans Valley League play by winning four straight, vaulting it to the top of the standings.

“It was great to get this game in against a really tough team in a week where we don’t have a league game,” Indians coach Tanner Jordan said. “That being said, it was not our best day, and you can’t expect to win at this level of competition playing how we played today.”

Junior pitcher Angelina Martinez continued her strong streak in the circle for the Indians, recording 12 strikeouts while scattering seven hits.

“Angelina has been in such a good rhythm lately,” Jordan said. “She’s been doing a really good job of holding teams in check lately, and to see her record 12 strikeouts against a team like East Union is impressive.”

Ripon was led offensively by senior catcher Alana Hernandez, who drove in both Indians runs, one coming on a triple in the sixth inning.

Simpson and East Union won’t have to wait long to try to turn Monday’s victory into a winning streak, as they host Sierra today.

“Hopefully, we can keep doing the things we did right today starting back up tomorrow in league play,” DeBrouwer said. “The VOL is a really tough league to play in, and we’ll aim to show up and execute.”

For Ripon, they’ll get the rest of the week off before picking TVL play back up with a trip to Orestimba next Tuesday, April 8.