KOKOMO, Ind. – The Earlham College softball team won two games to open the HCAC Tournament on Thursday.
GAME ONE: EARLHAM 10 BLUFFTON 2 (5 INNINGS)
Morgan Cooksey threw a complete five frames in game one to take a shortened win. The junior allowed just one earned run on six hits with one strikeout.
Bo Shelton went 2-2 with a double, two runs scored and three RBI.
Macie Ferguson scored two runs with three hits and a triple.
The Beavers plated their only two runs of the game in the top of the first inning.
In the bottom of the inning,
Mack Harvey led off with a single, and came around to score on a single by Shelton.
Ashley Lewis then hit a two-run single on a bloop shot to right field.
Leading 3-2, the Quakers scored six runs on five hits in the bottom of the second. Ferguson hit a two-out single, and stole second base before scoring on a double by Shelton.
Shelby Hill singled, and
Emmerie Stump walked to load the bases.
Jade Green then hit a two-run single through the right side for a 6-2 lead.
Ashley Lewis brought in a run, and
Malaya Tanglao hit a two-run single for the final scores of the inning.
After a Ferguson triple in the bottom of the third inning, Shelton laid down a sacrifice bunt to take the 10-2 lead.
GAME TWO: EARLHAM 5 FRANKLIN 3 (8 Innings)
Cooksey started and threw the first 3.1 innings, allowing one unearned run on three hits.
Shelby Messer earned the win with 4.2 innings, two earned runs and one strikeout.
Harvey went 2-3 with a double and an RBI. Stump was 2-3 with a double, a run scored and an RBI.
The first run of the game came home in the bottom of the fourth inning after the Grizzlies tallied two hits. Messer came into the game with one out, and runners on second and third. She scored a strikeout and a lineout to escape the inning.
Harvey led off the top of the sixth inning with a double to center field, and
Mikala Newland came in to pinch run. Ferguson followed up with a single, and Newland stretched to third on the hit. With runners on second and third, Hill hit an RBI-single to right field to tie the game. Stump then gave the Quakers a lead with an RBI-double to left field. The Grizzlies threw Hill out at home, holding the lead to one run.
Jade Green hit a single to put two runners on, but Franklin got a groundout to end the inning.
Bella Schatko led off the top of the seventh inning with a pinch-hit double to the center field fence, and Cailtyn Brooks laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Schatko to third. Harvey hit a single to give Earlham a 3-1 lead.
Franklin hit a one-out double in the bottom of the seventh, and put a second runner on with a misplayed bunt. With runners at first and third and only one out, the Grizzlies hit an outfield single for their first run of the frame. With runners at second and third now, the Grizzlies hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game at three. Messer induced a foulout to end the inning, and force an extra frame.
Hill doubled to open the eighth inning, and
Michaela King came in as a pinch runner. Green laid down a bunt, and reached first on an error while King scored the go-ahead run. Lewis then added an insurance run with an RBI-fielder's choice for a 5-3 lead.
Messer allowed just one baserunner in the bottom of the eighth to secure the win, and advance the Quakers in the winner's bracket of the HCAC Tournament.
Earlham will play Transylvania tomorrow at 5:30 pm in the conference tournament. A win tomorrow puts the Quakers into the championship game on Saturday.
