CLERMONT, Fl. - The Hood College softball team finished its Florida spring break trip at THE Spring Games with a split day, losing to North Park 11-3, but defeating Pitt-Greensburg 9-1 in its second game.Â
At the PlateÂ
Taylor Lowe (Laurel, Del./Delmarva Christian) was a perfect 3-3 with a walk against Pitt-Greensburg, hitting a double and scoring twice.Â
Sam Larkin (Pasadena, Md/Chesapeake High School) finished the day batting 3-6Â with 6 RBIs, drawing a walk and hitting a double versus North Park.Â
Rory Achey (Lewisberry, Pa./Red Land) hit 2-4 against the Bobcats and scored both times she got on.Â
In the CircleÂ
Sydney Weaver (Landisville, Pa./Hempfield) pitched four innings to take the loss against the Vikings.Â
Lowe pitched all six innings in the win over Pitt-Greensburg, striking out 11 batters while allowing just one run.Â
North Park 11, Hood 3Â
The Vikings got off to a hot start, taking a 1-0 lead after just three batters. Despite getting to two outs shortly after, a triple and a double would each score the runner on base and put the Blazers behind 3-0 after the first inning.Â
Hood did not take long to respond, getting on the board the next inning after Weaver drew a walk with the bases loaded, and after holding North Park off the board in the bottom of the inning, tied the game in the top of the third.Â
After going down in order to start the fourth inning, the Vikings' offense broke out in the bottom of the inning, hitting singles galore to tack on six runs and go up 9-3. Â
Despite loading the bases with two outs, the Blazers would come up empty-handed in the inning, and North Park would plate the final two runs it needed to end the game via run-rule a few batters later.Â
Hood 9, Pitt-Greensburg 1Â
The Blazers were amped to start their final game of the week, putting runners on the corners with just one out in the bottom of the first. Unfortunately, the next two batters just got under the ball and fouled out to end their threat.Â
Lowe got into a tough spot the very next inning, walking the leadoff batter before giving up a double to put two runners in scoring position. She struck out the next two though, and after walking one more batter to load the bases, got the next one to fly out and get out of the jam with no damage.Â
Hood managed to get two runners on with two outs in the bottom of the third, and Larkin is not one to give into that kind of pressure easily, driving a ball deep enough to score Achey from second and give the Blazers a 1-0 lead.Â
Pitt-Greensburg was able to tie things up after getting a bases loaded single with just one out, but again Lowe was able to limit the damage, forcing the next batter to ground out before blowing strike three by the next batter to send Hood to the plate.Â
The Blazers took the momentum Lowe brought and ran with it, getting multiple runners on base and scoring twice before recording their first out. After keeping the train rolling and scoring two more times to make it a 5-1 game, Pysher loaded the bases after being hit by a pitch, and a deep Larkin ball that hit off the back wall scored another two runners. Although
Kara Heidlauf (Mount Joy, Pa./Donegal High School)Â fouled out to end her second at-bat of the inning, Pysher was able to catch the defense sleeping and score after the catch to make it 8-1 Hood after four innings.Â
Neither team was able to add to their run total in the fifth, but after holding off the Bobcats' attack in the top of the sixth with another pair of strikeouts, Lowe kicked off the bottom of the inning with a double, and after a hit from Pysher sent her to third, a Larkin groundout pushed her across to walk the game off in six innings.Â
Up NextÂ
The Blazers return home and have a weekend of rest before playing a doubleheader against Penn State Mont Alto at home Tuesday, March 17 at 2 and 4 p.m.Â
