COLUMBUS, Ga.- The #10 Campbellsville University softball team headed to Georgia to compete in the NCFA Leadoff Classic. The Lady Tigers split the evening 1-1 with a loss to (RV) Reinhardt University and a win over #11 Georgia Gwinnett College.
Game one: Campbellsville 5, Reinhardt 8
As the first matchup with Reinhardt began, the top of the order made no moves further up and around the diamond.
Ryley Whitney earned a walk to first after battling with the pitcher for a handful of pitches. Following Whitney,
Madison Davis pushed her teammate to second with a short ball over to left field. The Lady Tigers left runners on and Reinhardt tallied a single run of their own within the first inning.
Campbellsville battled back against the deficit as bases had become loaded with a few hits.
Riley Hurst earned a walk to have
Ashby Murt become the first Lady Tiger on the scoreboard. The Eagles responded by placing two more runs on their lead. Action was slim as both teams suffered a scoreless third and fourth inning.
In the bottom of the fifth,
Karson Williams came into pitch for
Courtney Patterson. With bases loaded and no outs, the Eagles mustered up a grounder to short stop which allowed
Riley Hurst a fielder choice for the putout at first. This move resulted in Reinhardt making another advancement on the scoreboard. A runner's error allowed the Lady Tigers to solidify another out to stop the Eagles from more runs and to end the inning.
Sam McKee hit a shot on the left field stripe that was at first ruled a homerun. However, after official jurisdiction, McKee was awarded second base but still racked up an RBI by scoring Murt. Hurst followed up with an infield hit to score McKee for a tie score of four runs. Reinhardt responded as they added four runs to their score propelling themselves above the Lady Tigers.
Allison Bush came into the competition to close the inning in the pitching circle.
In the final inning, Whitney and Davis earned spots on the diamond. Murt batted in pinch runner,
Emily Reynolds, to close the gap for a three-run trail. The Lady Tigers were unable to advance any further and ended the match in a score of 8-5 to Reinhardt.
Game two: Campbellsville 3, Georgia Gwinnett 2
The Grizzlies punched early with a homerun to get a lead over the Lady Tigers. Campbellsville tallied a couple of hits but were unable to execute runs. Georgia Gwinnett scored a single run in the second inning and the Lady Tigers did not reciprocate when up to bat.
Campbellsville held the Grizzlies at two runs for the next two innings. Beginning the fifth,
Bailey Richardson grounded to first in which the fielder's error allowed her to push her teammate to second base as well as placing herself on first. After a relentless tread, Campbellsville was still unable to score. The Lady Tigers played resilient defense as they continued to keep Georgia Gwinnett at two runs going into the sixth inning.
The Grizzlies put up a fight as they collected a few hits against Campbellsville pitcher,
Katy Chadwell. However, Chadwell's pitches and her team's defense kept Georgia Gwinnett from tallying any more runs as they remained at two.
In the seventh inning, Bowling fashioned herself on first after capitalizing off a walk. Windell hit a hard ground ball to shortstop to force the defender into an error. As two Lady Tigers were on the bases, McKee hit a deep fly ball over the right-center wall for a three run RBI and to take the lead. Campbellsville shut out all attempts from the Grizzlies to knock at their lead as they completed the game victorious 3-2.
The Lady Tigers will continue their competition NCFA Leadoff Classic tomorrow afternoon beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET. Campbellsville will face-off against #16 William Carey University.
