IU-Southeast, Rio unbeaten in tourney play
IU-Southeast, Rio unbeaten in tourney play
By RANDY PAYTON
Rio Grande Sports Information
DANVILLE, Ky. - Top-seeded Indiana University-Southeast and No. 3 seed University of Rio Grande reached the winner's bracket final, while fourth-seeded Brescia University and No. 5 seed Carlow University remained alive in the loser's bracket following Friday's opening day of action at the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Softball Tournament at Millenium Park.
IU-Southeast and Rio Grande both finished the day with 2-0 records and will meet on Saturday, at 10 a.m., with the winner advancing to the championship first final of the double-elimination tournament.
Brescia and Carlow posted 2-1 marks on Friday and will meet in an elimination game on Saturday at 10 a.m. The winner advances to face the IU-Southeast-Rio Grande loser in another elimination contest at noon, with that winner advancing to face the IU-Southeast-Rio winner for the title.
The championship first final is set for 3 p.m., while a second final - if needed - would be played at 5 p.m.
In Friday's action:
No. 1 IU-Southeast 8, No. 8 Alice Lloyd 0 (6 innings)--Montanah Rogers and Alyssa Price both had three hits and two runs batted in, while Lauren Klosterman also had two RBI to lead the Grenadiers in a mercy rule-shortened victory.
IU-Southeast broke open a close game by scoring five times in the fifth inning.
Megan Boswell had two hits in the loss for Alice Lloyd.
No. 5 Carlow 5, No. 4 Brescia 4 (8 innings)--Nicole Hall's two-out RBI single in the top of the eighth inning lifted the Celtics past the Bearcats.
Brescia rallied from a 4-1 deficit by scoring three times in the bottom of the sixth.
That's how things stayed until Hall's eighth inning single plated Kenzie Young, who had reached on an inning-opening error.
Marla Small and Allison Hyradil both went 2-for-4 with a run batted in for Carlow, while Natalie Bashada added two hits of her own in the winning effort.
Megan England and Kayla Wade had one RBI each in a losing cause for the Bearcats.
No. 3 Rio Grande 1, No. 6 Asbury 0 (10 innings)--Freshman Tayler Arndt's bases-loaded sacrifice fly with no outs in the bottom of the 10th plated the game-winner for the RedStorm.
Rio's Jenna Jones outdueled Asbury's Summer Ratliff in the pitcher's circle, allowing just three hits and a walk while fanning eight over 10 shutout innings.
Ratliff was the hard-luck loser for the Eagles, allowing eight hits and an unearned run with five strikeouts in 9-1/3 innings.
Brittany Walk and Alex Kuhn had two hits each for Rio Grande.
No. 2 Point Park 8, No. 7 Midway 0 (6 innings)--Kate Reese tossed a one-hitter and the Pioneers turned a pair of big innings into a mercy rule-shortened win.
Point Park jumped to a 3-0 cushion in the first inning and added four more markers in the fifth frame to invoke the 8-run rule.
Jessica Beitler, Alyssa McMurtrie and Lauren Fevola all clubbed home runs in the win for the Pioneers. Beitler finished 3-for-3 with four RBI, while Fevola had two hits and McMurtrie drove in two runs.
Jeri Bogard's one-out second inning single accounted for Midway's lone hit.
No. 4 Brescia 1, No. 8 Alice Lloyd 0--Kayla Wade's two-out second inning single scored teammate Allie Michel with the game's lone run.
Shelby Franklin scattered five hits in a complete game shutout performance for Brescia.
Morgan Albury allowed just four hits and the one run in a route-going outing for the Eagles.
Michel finished 2-for-3 in the win for the Bearcats.
No. 6 Asbury 3, No. 7 Midway 1--The Eagles spotted Midway a first inning lead before scoring twice in the home half of the opening frame and once in the fourth for a come-from-behind triumph.
Kylee Gorby had an RBI single in Asbury's two-run first and Madi Adair had a run-scoring hit to plate the fourth inning marker.
Kimber Roberts drove in the lone run for Midway.
No. 1 IU-Southeast 9, No. 5 Carlow 1 (5 innings)--The Grenadiers scored in each of their five at bats, including three times in the bottom of the fifth, to post their mercy rule-shortened victory of the day.
Brookelyn Visker hit a pair of home runs and drove in three runs to lead IU-Southeast at the plate, while Alyssa Pice had two hits and two RBI and Cadie Povaleri went 2-for-3 with a run batted in. Montanah Rogers also had three hits in the victory.
Nicole George homered to account for Carlow's lone run.
Jessica Leanhart allowed four hits and struck out three over five innings to get the victory for the Grenadiers.
No. 3 Rio Grande 5, No. 2 Point Park 2--Haley Gwin's two-run single highlighted a three-run seventh inning rally and lifted the RedStorm past the Pioneers.
Rio Grande took a 2-0 lead in the second inning on freshman Gabby Gregg's first collegiate home run, but Point Park tied the game with single markers in the fourth and sixth innings. Lauren Fevola drove in the fourth inning run, while the tying run crossed on a two-out error.
The RedStorm regained the lead on a sacrifice fly by Tayler Arndt before Gwin added her two-out, run-scoring hit later in the frame to provide insurance.
Jenna Jones earned her second win of the day, allowing five hits and just one earned run in a complete game effort. She walked three and fanned five en route to the victory.
No. 4 Brescia 9, No. 2 Point Park 0 (5 innings)--The Bearcats pulled, arguably, the biggest surprise of the day, parlaying a seven-run first inning into an easy win over the second-seeded Pioneers in an elimination contest.
Brescia had eight hits and was the beneficiary of a Point Park error in the first inning explosion. Megan England and Lauren Rodgers began the game with consecutive doubles and Courtney Woods followed with a home run to make it 3-0. England later added a two-run single, while Rodgers and Kayla Wade also had RBI singles.
The Bearcats scored another run in the second on a Pioneer error and set the final score with a home run by Rodgers in the fifth.
Rodgers had three hits and three RBI, while England went 3-for-4 with two runs batted in and Woods had two hits and two RBI.
Brescia's Stacey Harbold allowed just one Point Park baserunner - a one-out, first inning single by Becca Babincak - in a complete game performance. She struck out four batters.
No. 5 Carlow 3, No. 6 Asbury 0--The Celtics stayed alive thanks to an RBI double by Marla Small in the third inning and a two-run double by Jenna Grogan in the fourth.
Carlow had just four hits of its own, but starting pitcher Emily Pritts blanked the Eagles on five hits in a complete game effort. She walked one and struck out two.
Julie Jarboe and Alyssa Gaines both had two hits, including a double apiece, in a losing cause for Asbury.
Summer Ratliff was a hard-luck loser for the Eagles for the second time on the day, allowing just four hits and a pair of earned runs over six innings.
Live video of tournament contests can be found at www.team1sports.com/redstorm and live statistics will be available at www.dakstats.com/WebSync/Pages/Webcasts.aspx?association=10.