SPRING ARBOR, Mich. - The 5th-seeded Huntington softball team got off to a great start Wednesday morning by taking it to 4th-seeded Mount Vernon 7-3 on opening day of the Crossroads League double-elimination tournament at Spring Arbor. The afternoon was a high-scoring affair with top-seeded Marian outlasting the Foresters 10-7.
After four quiet innings against the Cougars, the Foresters finally got things rolling in the fifth. Nigella Reck started the come-from-behind rally with a double that bounced off the wall in center field to drive in three runs. It instantly turned HU's 2-0 deficit into a permanent 3-2 advantage. Maddie Goheen and Khloee Gregory added to the lead with RBI-singles for a 5-2 ball game.
MVNU got one back in the bottom of the frame compliments of Kiera Mayer's solo shot. It proved the only run Natalie Haselby gave up and just one of two hits she scattered in the final six innings of play. Aside from the dinger, Haselby had the Cougars guessing all morning to pick up her sixth win of the season. She issued just one free pass while fanning seven which included coaxing two batters to strike out swinging in the bottom of the seventh.
Huntington added two insurance runs in the sixth on some heads up baserunning. Carli Tharp scored on a wild pitch and then Kasey Hickle took advantage of an errant throw on the same play to make her way home too.
Ehler and crew doubled up Mount Vernon in hits 10-5. Hickle, Tharp and Courtney Mason each finished with two base pokes apiece.
A few hours later, the HU/Marian matchup started with a bang. As the guests on the scoreboard, Huntington struck first with two runs thanks to back-to-back RBI base smacks by Reck and Mason. The Knights answered promptly in their half of the frame to slip in front 3-2 after just one inning of play.
It was a battle of the wills at that point as the Foresters pieced together four hits to manufacture three runs in the second. Hickle's single into deep center drove in a pair of runs after which she came around to score on a Jess Duvall RBI-single.
Huntington's 5-3 advantage held for an inning and a half before Marian got hot again to grow a comfortable lead over the next few frames. Heading into the seventh, the Knights had built a 10-5 lead. One last push saw HU get two back but that's as close as they would get. Karlee Franklin took the loss having tossed 3.1 frames during which she gave up six hits, five runs and three walks while striking out one.
The Foresters (27-26) are back in action tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. to face 3rd-seeded Spring Arbor in an elimination game.
The Huntington University Foresters compete in 18 intercollegiate sports for men and women. In the past decade, Huntington has produced 154 NAIA All-America honors and 501 All-America Scholar Athlete honors. Huntington University is a comprehensive Christian college of the liberal arts offering graduate and undergraduate programs in more than 70 academic concentrations. U.S. News & World Report ranks Huntington among the best colleges in the Midwest.
