KISSIMMEE, Fla. – Haley Ball knocked a walk-off single to right field to lead the Springfield College Pride to a 3-2 come-back win over the University of Southern Maine Huskies Sunday afternoon at The Spring Games in Florida.
In a nip-and-tuck contest, Pride rallied to score a run in the bottom of the sixth and seventh to overcome a 2-1 deficit and spoil the Huskies' bid for three straight wins.
Southern Maine received a strong showing in the circle from sophomore
Mia Coots (Newport, Maine/Nokomis) in the loss. Coots finished the game allowing six hits and two walks over 6.1 innings while allowing just two earned runs. Southern Maine seniors
Mackenzie Renner (Alton, NH/Prospect Mountain) and
Kristina Yebba (Danvers, Mass.) each had two hits, including a double each, as part of the Huskies' eight-hit attack.
The Huskies' second scheduled game of the day was cancelled in the bottom of the fourth (USM 5-1) due to inclement weather.
Records:
Springfield 3, Southern Maine 2
Southern Maine (2-1) 020 000 0 2-8-3
Springfield (2-2) 010 001 1 3-6-0
Pitching Records:
Southern Maine vs. Springfield
WP: SC, Amelia DeRosa (1-2) 7.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 Ks
LP: SM,
Mia Coots (1-1), 6.1 IP, 6H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 HR
How It Happened:
- Haley Ball hit a walk-off single to right field in the bottom of the seventh to deliver the come-back win for Springfield College.
- Southern Maine took the lead early, scoring twice in the second inning, and held steady with solid defense and strong pitching from Coots until the bottom of the sixth.
- In the top of the second, Yebba smacked an RBI double to center field scoring Renner for the Huskies' first run. Renner reached safely drawing a one-out walk, and moved up into scoring position on a single from sophomore Aislin Davis (Tewksbury, Mass). Davis scored USM's second run of the inning tagging up on a sacrifice fly RBI to right field from senior Alana Deslisle (Amesbury, Mass.).
- Springfield took one run back in the bottom of the second, generating a run on an error, a sacrifice bunt, fly ball and a passed ball.
- Coots kept the Huskies ahead with a solid effort in the next two innings. She worked her way around a lead-off single in the third, and did the same in the fourth, getting three consecutive outs, including a strikeout.
- Southern Maine threatened to pad its lead in the fifth with a single from senior Olivia Levasseur (Amesbury, Mass.) and a double to center from Renner to make it Husky runners on first and third with two outs, but Springfield's Amelia DeRosa got the final out to end the threat.
- Coots delivered again in the fifth getting three fly ball outs to negate a lead-off Springfield runner via error. In the top of the sixth, USM's Yebba led off with a single and moved up to third on a ground out and a single from freshman Avery Moore (Dublin, NH), but again DeRosa quieted the threat with a fly ball for the third out.
- In the sixth, Springfield's Carissa Pecchia came through for her team with a two-out pinch-hit home run to center field tying the game at 2-2. With the score tied in the top of the seventh, DeRosa was able to get three outfield fly outs off the Husky batters to send her team to the bottom of the inning with a chance to win.
- Springfield used another big pinch-hit, this time a lead-off double from Madison King, and won the game on a walk-off single from Haley Ball for the 3-2 final.
Up Next:
Southern Maine is off Monday, but returns to action with two games on Tuesday. The Huskies will take on Framingham State at 1:30 pm, and then face Nazareth University at 4:45 pm. Southern Maine plays another two. On Wednesday facing Edgewood College at 10:00 am, and then Alverno College at 12:15 pm.
-cac-
