WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – The Earlham College softball team rounded out its Spring Break trip with a pair of wins on Pi Day over Albertus Magnus College, and Thomas College.
GAME ONE: EARLHAM 14 ALBERTUS MAGNUS 3
Tatum Rickert opened the day with 3.2 innings pitched, five strikeouts, and two earned runs in a game-one win.
Shelby Messer recorded four strikeouts in 2.1 innings of relief.
Offensively,
Shelby Hill hit her first home run of the season, with two runs scored and three RBI.
Cierra James went 2-4 with three RBI and a double. Batting leadoff and playing shortstop,
Caitlyn Brooks tallied three hits, two runs, two steals, two walks and one RBI.
Earlham batted around the order in the first inning, plating four runs on two hits, three walks, and an error. Brooks led off the game with a single to left field, and came around to score off of a wild pitch. The Quakers scored on an RBI from an error, and another wild pitch to lead 3-0. With the bases loaded and two outs, Earlham earned a run with a walk.
The Falcons hit back-to-back one-out doubles to score their first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning. An outfield single then gave Albertus Magnus a second run to trail 4-2.
Michaela King hit a leadoff single in the third inning, and scored with a two-out single by
Bella Schatko.
With five hits in the fourth inning, Earlham plated four runs. Hill earned a leadoff walk, and
Kymara Kennedy came in to pinch run, stealing second, and heading to third on an errant throw. Rickert brought the run home with a sacrifice fly for the first out of the inning.
Ariel Clarkston earned an RBI with a single to center field, and James blasted a double to right field for an 8-2 Quaker lead. Brooks brought in the final run of the inning with a one-out double to left field.
After an Albertus Magnus run in the bottom of the fourth, Earlham plated five runs on five hits in the sixth. Brooks recorded her third hit of the day with a leadoff single on a bunt, and stole second before Hill shot a homer to left field. With the bases loaded, Clarkston hit a two-run single up the middle. James then followed with another outfield single for a 14-3 lead.
GAME TWO: EARLHAM 3 THOMAS 2
Morgan Cooksey threw a complete seven innings, striking out 12 batters, and allowing just one earned run in the Florida finale.
Ashley Lewis went 2-3 with two RBU and a double, Lewis also came home as the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning.
The Terriers took advantage of a leadoff single and a defensive error with a two-run double in the first inning. Earlham responded in the bottom of the second with a two-run single by Lewis to tie the game. Hill led off the second with a single, and
Drew Tubesing reached on an error before Lewis brought the pair home.
Tied 2-2, both pitchers threw efficient innings, with just five combined hits after the second inning. The Terriers earned their first baserunner in six innings with a two-out double in the top of the seventh, but Cooksey induced a flyout to escape the inning unscathed.
In the bottom of the seventh, Lewis reached as the leadoff batter on a fielding error.
Macie Ferguson then moved the runner with a sacrifice bunt, and Brooks brought her home with a walk-off single to left field.
The Quakers continue action on Tuesday at Centre College with a doubleheader beginning at 5 pm.
