The Spring Hill College softball team kicked-off the SIAC Softball Crossover Tournament with a pair of run-rule shortened victories at Bill Noble Park in Gardendale, Alabama.
The Badgers defeated Savannah State, 10-2, in 6 innings in their first game of the day before racing past Albany State, 17-1, in 5 innings in their second game.
Spring Hill improves to 10-11 overall and remains perfect in SIAC contests, sitting at 5-0 in conference play.
Game 1: Spring Hill 10, Savannah State 2
Leighanna Turk tossed six innings, allowing just two runs, and the Spring Hill offense backed her up with 10 runs on 12 hits to earn the 10-2 victory over Savannah State.
Janci Aube was one of three Badgers with 2 hits in the game, going 2-for-3 with a home run and 2 RBI.
Amanda Glowacki was also 2-for-3 at the plate, with an RBI and 2 runs scored, and
McKenzie King was 2-for-4 with 2 RBI.
Aube led off the bottom of the first with a solo shot to center field, quickly putting Spring Hill up 1-0. Later in the inning, after a walk and a single put
Jesslyn Gordon at third,
Bethany Ahrens hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Gordon and put the Badgers up 2-0.
Savannah State tied the game at 2-2 in the top of the second inning and had the go-ahead run standing on third base, but Turk induced a ground out to keep the game tied.
This allowed the Badgers bats to get back into the box where Spring Hill would take advantage of a throwing error by the pitcher to score the go-ahead run. Gordon would later single home
Oscha Carter to make it 4-2 after two.
Then, in the bottom of the third inning, Spring Hill broke the game open with four more runs. The Badgers started the inning with a walk and a single to put two runners on with no outs. An RBI single by King scored
Abigail Christ to make it 5-2 and then a two-run single by Glowacki pushed the lead to 7-2. Later in the inning, Aube singled down the left field line to score Gloawacki and almost scored Carter to make it 9-2, but the Badgers would have to settle being up 8-2 after Carter was thrown out at home trying to score from second.
Turk kept Savannah State quiet, which allowed for Spring Hill to score one run in the bottom of the fifth and another run in the bottom of the sixth to walk off the 10-2, shortened win.
Game 2: Spring Hill 17, Albany State 1
Spring Hill rode a 9-run first inning to a 17-1 runaway victory over Albany State to complete the 2-0 day.
McKenzie King was a perfect 3-for-3 with 2 RBI and 3 runs scored.
Janci Aube added another 4 RBI and 3 runs scored, reaching base three times from the leadoff position.
Meredith Fontenot,
Molly Pitts, and
Oscha Carter tacked on 2 RBI each while
Bethany Ahrens and
Abigail Christ drove in the last of the runs with one RBI each.
Ahrens earned her fifth win of the season, allowing one run on just two hits while striking out 5 in 4.0 innings pitched.
The first eight Badgers batters reached base to start the game, with Spring Hill plating 5 runs before recording their first out. A pair of walks sandwiched a
Jesslyn Gordon single to load the bases and then a RBI single by
Meadow Villar scored Aube to make it 1-0. Back-to-back walks, from Ahrens and Pitts, scored two more runs, and then King singled to bring in Villar to make it 4-0. Another run-scoring walk, this one from Christ, made it 5-0, and kept the bases loaded. Aube, up for the second time in the inning, blasted a grand slam to left center field, clearing the bases and making it 9-0 after the first inning.
Albany State got on the board in the top of the second inning, but Spring Hill pushed their lead back to 9 in the bottom of the third after King scored on a passed ball.
The Badgers put up another crooked number in the fourth inning, scoring 7 runs to make it 17-1. Similarly to the first inning, the first three batters reached base, with Villar making it 11-1 with an RBI single. Pitts drove in Fontenot and King singled home Villar to increase the lead to 13-1. Two batters later, Carter singled to left center, scoring both King and Pitts, making it 15-1 and then Fontenot, at the plate for the second time in the inning, hit a two-run double to make it 17-1 with four innings in the books.
Emma Sites came in for Ahrens in the top of the fifth and closed out the game to seal the 17-1 victory.
Spring Hill continues the SIAC Softball Crossover Tournament with games against Allen, Benedict, and Clark Atlanta on the schedule for tomorrow, March 11th. Game times are set for 10 a.m., 3 p.m., and 5:30 p.m., respectively.
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