ALBERTVILLE, Ala. (February 11, 2022) – The Spring Hill College (SHC) Badgers softball team opened play at the 2022 Charger Chillout presented by Marshall County Tourism & Sports hosted by the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) with a 4-0 victory over the Delta State University (DSU) Statesmen and a 3-2 loss to the Shorter University Hawks at Sand Mountain Park on Friday afternoon.
SHC took a 1-0 lead over the Statesmen (1-2) in the bottom of the 2
nd inning when second baseman
Macy Holt lifted a sacrifice fly to left that plated left fielder
Airyonna Weaver. The Badgers added two runs in the 3
rd inning after shortstop
Madison Koger's single brought in center fielder
Sophia Nuzzolillo and another sac fly off the bat of first baseman
Paityn Desormeaux that scored Koger.
Right fielder
Lindsey Mecom got in on the Badger fun in the 4
th frame with an RBI single to the right side to bring in pinch runner
Abby Fridley.
Badger pitcher
Olivia Indorf (1-2) earned the complete-game shutout, allowing just 4 hits with a walk and 4 strikeouts. Makeena Keeton (0-2) of DSU took the loss in 3.0 innings surrendering 4 hits with no walks and 1 strikeout while Lacey Coats pitched the final 3 innings with 3 hits, 2 walks and 2 strikeouts.
In the nightcap, the Hawks (2-2) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the 3
rd inning with a leadoff triple versus starter
Alexandra Ballester (1-2) and three singles off Badger reliever
Paityn Desormeaux. A single to right by the Hawks in the 5
th stanza brought in an unearned run as the Badger deficit grew to 3 runs.
SHC made the final inning worth the wait for those that stayed for the end, however, as a walk, an infield single, and a hit batter loaded the bases with one out for the Badgers. A walk by Mecom broke up the shutout and a sac fly from Holt made it a 3-2 game, but an infield pop out to 1
st base ended the SHC rally and secured a win for the Hawks.
Desormeaux went 4.0 innings with 7 hits and 1 walk allowed while striking out 1 batter. Emily Brunson (1-1) was the winner for Shorter with 2 hits, 4 walks and 2 strikeouts over 6.1 innings as Courtney Pinkston took home her first save of the year with no hits and a walk in .2 of an inning.
The Badgers (2-4) will remain in Albertville overnight to face the 23
rd-ranked UAH Chargers (5-1) at 10:30 a.m. followed by the Kentucky Wesleyan College Panthers (1-1) at 1 p.m.
