RICHMOND, Ind. – The Earlham College softball team took two wins over Albion College on Saturday afternoon in Ellie Bewley Stadium.
GAME ONE: EARLHAM 6 ALBION 5
Tatum Rickert pitched 6.1 total innings for the win with nine strikeouts and four earned runs allowed on six hits. Rickert tallied 107 pitches on the day.
Bo Shelton went 2-for-3 with a double, a triple, a walk and two runs scored.
Keely Hubbard went 2-for-3 with a triple, two steals, two runs scored and an RBI. Rickert hit 1-for-1 and recorded two RBI.
With one hit through three innings, Albion took advantage of a hit-by-pitch for the leadoff batter to score three runs on three straight hits. In the bottom of the fourth, Shelton hit a leadoff triple, and came home on a sacrifice fly by Rickert.
The Britons hit a one-out double in the top of the sixth inning, and scored on a two-out RBI. The Quakers again responded in the bottom of the frame, plating two runs on three hits. Hubbard led the inning off with a triple into the left field corner, beating out the throw at third base.
Emmerie Stump earned an RBI on the next at-bat. Shelton hit a one-out double, and came home on a single up the middle by Rickert.
Kamdyn DePew saw her first collegiate action in the top of the seventh inning. The freshman allowed one earned run in the frame, and recorded two outs before Rickert scored a strikeout to end the frame.
Cierra James recorded her first hit of the season on a bunt-single to lead off the seventh inning for the Quakers. The starting center fielder then stole second, and capitalized on an overthrow to reach third.
Shelby Hill brought James home with an outfield double for a 5-4 Albion lead. Hubbard legged out a hit on a bunt that brought
Kymara Kennedy home for the tying run. The Quakers loaded the bases with just one out in the inning, and
Mackenzie Harvey earned the winning RBI on a walk.
GAME TWO: EARLHAM 8 ALBION 1
Morgan Cooksey started game two, and earned the win with five innings, four hits, one earned run and four strikeouts.
Shelby Messer saw two innings of action, and allowed just one hit with three strikeouts.
Playing in right field, Kennedy went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two stolen bases.
Caitlyn Brooks recorded two hits, including a double, with two RBI.
Ariel Clarkston scored two runs and recorded two RBI with a double.
Macie Ferguson stole three bases, and scored twice.
After a leadoff walk in the bottom of the first, Ferguson stole second and third base, and came home along with
Malaya Tanglao on a two-run double by Clarkston. The Quakers tacked on another run with an RBI-double by Brooks.
Kennedy led off the second inning with an infield single, and stole second base, advancing to third on a passed ball. A ball in play in the infield by
Kylie Rayburn allowed Kennedy to score and put the Quakers up 4-0 in the second frame.
Albion scored its only run in the top of the third inning.
Kennedy bunted for a hit with two outs in the fourth inning, and stole second before Rayburn earned an RBI on an infield single.
With runners on second and third, and two outs in the fifth inning, Brooks hit an outfield single for a 6-1 Quaker lead. Earlham tacked on two extra runs in the bottom of the sixth inning on two hits and one error.
The Quakers head off to Florida next weekend for THE Spring Games. Earlham is slated to play eight games in the five-day trip to central Florida.
