RICHMOND, Ind. – The Earlham College softball team locked in its spot in the HCAC Tournament after a sweep of Manchester University on Thursday afternoon in Ellie Bewley Stadium.
GAME ONE: EARLHAM 8 MANCHESTER 3
Morgan Cooksey tossed a complete game to open the doubleheader, allowing just three runs with two strikeouts for her seventh win of the season.
Offensively,
Shelby Hill went 2-3 with two RBI and a run scored.
Macie Ferguson went 2-3 with three runs scored and a stolen base.
With two runners on base and one out in the bottom of the first inning. Hill hit an RBI single to the shortstop, bringing Ferguson home for the first scorer of the game. Earlham added a second run in the bottom of the second inning after
Mack Harvey put a ball in play to the infield to score
Jade Green.
Trailing 2-0, the Spartans scored two runs on four hits in the top of the fourth inning. With the bases loaded, Cooksey induced an infield popout to end the frame.
Harvey led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a double to center field, and advanced to third on a single by Ferguson.
Bo Shelton hit into an error for one run, and Hill brought home a run with a single to right field.
Emmerie Stump earned an RBI on an infield groundout with runners on base, and Green brought home the final run of the frame with a sacrifice fly for a 6-2 Quaker lead.
With two outs and the bases loaded, Stump hit a two-run single in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Spartans then scored a final run in the top of the seventh inning.
GAME TWO: EARLHAM 3 MANCHESTER 2 (8 INNINGS)
Shelby Messer threw a complete eight innings in game two, allowing one earned run on five hits with three strikeouts.
Harvey led the Quakers with one hit and two RBI.
Manchester got on the board first with two runs on two hits and an error in the top of the third inning. The Quakers then came back after a two-run single by Harvey tied the game in the bottom of the fifth.
The teams were still tied after seven innings, and went to an extra frame. The Spartans advanced their free runner to third with a sacrifice bunt, and tried to score on a fly ball to right field, but
Ashley Lewis delivered an on-target throw to cut down the runner and score the inning-ending double play.
Then in the bottom of the eighth, Lewis laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance
Michaela King to third, and Shelton hit a walk-off sacrifice fly with a deep ball to right field.
The Quakers are guaranteed to finish in at least fifth place in the HCAC standings, and have earned a spot in the conference tournament in Kokomo next weekend. Depending on how this weekend's games shake out across the conference, Earlham could finish as high as third place in the final standings.
The Quakers conclude their regular season on Saturday at Anderson University with a doubleheader beginning at 1 pm.
