Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 CLERMONT, Fl. - The Hood College softball team dropped a pair of close games in its second day at THE Spring Games, falling to Nichols College 9-8 and Heidelberg University 8-6.
At the Plate
Taylor Lowe (Laurel, Del./Delmarva Christian) went 3-5 with a double and a home run against Nichols.
Bailey Pysher (Pottstown, Pa/Pottsgrove) was a perfect 4-4 in the day's second game versus Heidelberg.
Lizzie McConnell (Stevensville, Md./Kent Island) finished the day batting 5-8, hitting three doubles and driving in two runs.
Sam Larkin (Pasadena, Md/Chesapeake High School) went 4-7 with a walk and two doubles on the day.
In the Circle
Sydney Weaver (Landisville, Pa./Hempfield) took the game one loss against the Bison, striking out three batters and allowing four hits in two innings.
Amy Montgomery-Snoke (Catonsville, Md./Catonsville) allowed three runs on four hits in 2 innings pitched to take the loss against the Student Princes.
Nichols 9, Hood 8
The Bison struck quickly, converting a leadoff walk into a run two batters later, and although they threatened again with runners on the corners and two outs, the next batter flew out to end the threat.
Even though Nichols would score once more in the top of the second to make it 2-0, the Blazers would push a run across in the second and third innings to tie things up quickly.
After sitting the Bison down in order in the top of the fourth, Hood's bats exploded in the bottom of the inning, as McConnell kicked things off with a double before scoring on two straight wild pitches. A sacrifice bunt from
Rory Achey (Lewisberry, Pa./Red Land) for the first out of the inning put two runners in scoring position, and a double from Lowe scored one before another double from Pysher cleared the bases.
Before long, the Blazers had loaded the bases with just one out and looked to keep things going after a
Sara Munson (Inwood, W.Va./Musselman) single scored another run to make it a 7-2 game with the bases still loaded. Unfortunately, a force out at home and a strikeout directly following the single slowed Hood's momentum.
That momentum looked to swing back to the other side after Nichols scored three in the top of the fifth though, and even though a towering home run from Lowe made it an 8-5 game after five, the Bison would plate four batters in the top of the sixth and not allow any other runs to shock the Blazers with a 9-8 loss.
Heidelberg 8, Hood 6
Once again, the Blazers found themselves behind early, as the Student Princes tacked on two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Hood managed to get one back in the top of the second though after McConnell was driven in via a Weaver single to cut the deficit to 2-1.
There was no change in the third, but Heidelberg widened the gap in the bottom of the fourth with a trio of runs.
Hood started to claw back with a run in the fifth and two in the sixth to make it a one-run game at 5-4, but the Student Princes again plated three in the bottom of the sixth to make it that much more difficult to come back.
Although the Blazers were able to capitalize on fielding errors and make it an 8-6 game in the top of the seventh, they did not have enough offense in them to force Heidelberg to bat again, and that score would stand as the final batter grounded out.
Up Next
Hood returns to Hancock Park for two more games in its Florida trip against Lasell University and Juniata College Wednesday, March 11 at 9 and 11:45 a.m.
