VIENNA, W.Va. - The Great Midwest Athletic Conference Softball Tournament opened up play on Thursday, starting with #8 Ursuline and the defending G-MAC Champion, #1 Trevecca Nazarene. With weather and field conditions the schedule for day one has moved, though check back to the conference website for all changes throughout the day as we are scheduled to play eight games today.
#7 Ohio Valley vs. #3 Cedarville
In the second elimination game of the evening, #7 Ohio Valley University pushed #3 seed Cedarville into extra innings and came just inches away from advancing, but fell 7-4 in 11 innings.
Cedarville jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first as Rachel Bull led off with a walk and Carlyn Hanzel followed with a single to center field scoring Bull. The Lady Jackets picked up their second run in the top of the second as Bull’s RBI single brought in Carol Rice, giving Cedarville a quick 2-0 lead.
Cedarville continued to add to their lead, scoring a run in the top of the third inning on a RBI-ground out to short. OVU began its comeback as senior Donna O’Bryant smacked a double to center field scoring Chanel Bouchard in the bottom of the fourth. Cedarville answered with a run in the top of the fifth after Kirkpatrick leadoff with a single in the inning and came around to score.
In the bottom of the fifth the Fighting Scots scored twice on a giant hit by O’Bryant to the right center fence. She picked up her third RBI of the game to bring OVU within one.
Kayleigh Schroeder led off the Scots final at-bat in the seventh with a single to right, her third hit of the game. Beth Wedmore came in to pinch run for Schroeder and Leigh Murphy advanced her on a sacrifice bunt. After a ground out, Bouchard tied the game on a double to center that scored Wedmore and took the game into extra innings.
Both teams couldn’t do much in the eighth and ninth innings and eventually the game went into the tenth where the tiebreaker came into play, which placed a baserunner at second base at the start of each half inning. OVU took advantage in the tenth as they quickly set down Cedarville in the top half of the inning, and in the bottom of the inning OVU was just inches away from winning the game. With a runner on third and one out, Wedmore hit what appeared to be a game-winning sacrifice fly to center, but Hanzel made the catch and a perfect one hop throw to the catcher who tagged out Kelly Ferneding at home.
The defensive effort was all the Lady Jackets needed, as they plated three runs in the top of the 11th as a two-run double by Kirkpatrick gave Cedarville the lead. Kelsey Chapman followed with an RBI single to add an insurance run. In the bottom of the inning, Courtney Spain completed her 11 inning complete game in which she threw almost 200 pitches for the victory.
Cedarville advances in the loser bracket and will return to action tomorrow at 2:30 pm, facing the loser of the 8:30 a.m. game between Trevecca Nazarene and Alderson Broaddus.
#6 Salem International vs. #3 Cedarville
#6 Salem International took on #3 Cedarville University Yellow Jackets in the fourth game of the opening round of contests in the G-MAC Softball Championships. The Tigers pulled out the only upset victory in the first four games the win over the Yellow Jackets 7-4 after Cedarville managed to tie things up twice late in the game.
Salem took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first on an RBI single by Lise Couturier that scored Summer Clark. Cedarville had a runner in scoring position in the bottom of the first after Christina Kirkpatrick doubled to left field. Nicole Davis singled to right and Kirkpatrick made the attempt to make it home, but a strong throw by Salem’s Angela McGoldrick made it in time to get the out at home.
The Yellow Jackets tied things up in the bottom of the second as Carlyn Hanzel singled to center field and Shannon Muldowney laid down a perfect bunt for a single, advancing Hanzel to second. A sacrifice bunt by Eigsti advances both runners into scoring position, followed by a single by Brianna Hughes scoring Hanzel and tying things up.
Salem regained the lead in the top of the fourth as they picked up three runs on three hits. Couturier led off the inning with a double to left field and Morgan Lowry brought her home on a single for the Tigers first run followed by Lauren Smith who double to center field that scored McGoldrick and Lowry bringing the score to 4-1. The double chased Cedarville’s starter from the game and Courtnie Spain came in for relief.
Cedarville cut the lead to one in the bottom of the fifth on singles by Rachel Bull, Christina Kirkpatrick, Nicole Davis, and Shannon Muldowney. Davis and Hanzel each picked up and RBI in the inning. The Yellow Jackets then tied things up in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single by Rachel Bull.
The Tigers clinched the victory with a huge seventh inning. Summer Clark struck out swinging but reached as the ball got away from the catcher. Bre-Ana Felix singled to shallow right just behind the first baseman, Spain then walked two Tigers including the game-winning run. Kayla Guta recorded an RBI single for an insurance run Salem followed by McGoldrick who drove in Chyrssofos. Salem ended the half inning with the 7-4 lead. The Tigers defense then made a huge play in the bottom of the seventh field a short stop to second to first double play to end the game.
#7 Ohio Valley vs. #2 Kentucky Wesleyan
Game Three of the G-MAC Softball Championships was a battle between the #7 Ohio Valley University Fighting Scots and the #2 Panthers of Kentucky Wesleyan College, with Kentucky Wesleyan advancing into the winners bracket with the 6-1 victory.
OVU missed an early opportunity in the top of the first as Kayleigh Schroeder and Kristine Brown picked up a pair of singles to put a pair of runners on for the Fighting Scots. However, Kentucky Wesleyan College pitcher Casey Smith retired the next two batters to end the half inning and keep OVU from scoring.
Kentucky Wesleyan had a big scoring opportunity in the bottom of the second as they loaded the bases on singles by Casey Smith, Kyli Smithson, and Alex Baumgart, but OVU pitcher Kristine Brown struck out G-MAC Co-Offensive Player of the Year Kelsey Miller to end the inning and leave the base runners stranded.
The Panthers did manage to grab a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning as Amber Pendergraft reached on an error to third to start off the inning. She advanced to third on a long fly ball to left and a fielded ball to second. Mackenzie Weedman hit the ball to shallow right field to score Pendergraft and get the Panthers on the scoreboard.
Kentucky Wesleyan secured the win as they expanded their lead in the bottom of the fifth. The Panthers had seven hits in the inning, scoring five runs. Mackenzie Weedman hit one to the right center gap scoring Kaci Ovelgoenner for the go-ahead run.
OVU’s Kristine Brown hit a leadoff double to right field in the top of the sixth. She was then driven home by Leigh Murphy for OVU’s only run of the game. In the top of the seventh KWC quickly retired the side to end the game with a 6-1 victory advancing them into the winner’s bracket.
Kentucky Wesleyan had 15 hits in the game. Miller and Weedman were each 3-4 for the Panthers and Smith and Smithson were each 2-3. OVU’s Kristine Brown and Kayleigh Schroeder were each 2-3 in the game and Casey Smith picked up the win in the circle for the Panthers.
#5 Davis & Elkins vs. #4 Alderson Broaddus
Game two of the G-MAC Softball Championships consisted of #5 Davis & Elkins College and #4 Alderson Broaddus University, with the Battlers escaping as the higher seed with a 1-0 victory.
Megan LaFon started on the mound for the Battlers and Amber LaBille was the hurler for the Senators. Each pitched three quick scoreless innings to start the game. LaBille was able to hold the Senators in the game, twice got her team out of jams with runners on second and third in the third and fifth innings. She struck out the final two hitters in each of those innings to keep the game close.
The lone run of the game came in the bottom of the fourth inning for the Battlers. Kylee Gaspar singled to left field and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Bianca Officer. Ariel Cammin came to the plate and singled to left field moving Gaspar to third, who then got herself into a rundown allowing Gaspar to steal home for the winning run.
D&E had an opportunity to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh, as they led off with a single by Amber LaBille. Kaitlyn Daugherty laid down a perfect sac bunt to advance LaBille to second. Amanda Serafini groundout and LaBille tried to advance to third on the throw to first and was thrown out for a game ending double play.
#8 Ursuline vs. #1 Trevecca Nazarene
The batteries for each team consisted of Co-Offensive player of the Year, Lindsey Stephens, who actually was the starting pitcher for TNU, and Jordan Griner behind the plate for Trevecca, with Brittany Humbel on the mound and Kaitlin Krajcik behind the plate for Ursuline College.
The game started with each team’s leadoff hitter being hit by a pitch. Ursuline pulled off a pop fly double play to second base as Trevecca tried a hit and run to end a scoreless first inning. Ursuline’s Michele Hare singled to left field to lead off the second inning for the first hit of the game, but again both teams would be left scoreless after two complete.
In the bottom of the third an error put Ansley Brantley in scoring position for the Trojans. Kelsey Kemp had a sacrifice bunt to advance Brantley to third followed by an RBI single to right by Stephens.
Trevecca kept things going as Mackenzie Leding singled up the middle and Alex Richardson followed her with another single up the middle to score Stephens and give the Trojans a 2-0 lead.
In the top of the fourth an error by pitcher Stephens allowed Dagmar Smith to get on base, but she corrected the mistake starting a 163 double play to end the half inning.
TNU’s Jordan Griner walked with two outs and an error by the left fielder, Danielle Almodiel on a fly ball kept Ursuline from getting out of the inning. That allowed Brantley to get to second and Griner to advance to third. Kelsey Kemp then singled to left field and the ball got passed the outfielder, scoring both base runners for two more unearned runs for Trevecca.
Stephens found the gap in right center to score Kemp for the third and final run of the inning and the damage was done as Trevecca ended the inning with a 5-0 lead, which would be the eventual final.
Ursline tried to get back in the game in both the top of the fifth and sixth. Ursuline pitcher Brittany Humbel and Natalie Huggins each picked up singles to center field in the fifth. Jayla Garner picked up a single to left in the sixth, however, Trevecca would retire the remaining Arrows to end the game.