DC softball opens The Spring Games with losses to Wisconsin-Stout and Lakeland
AUBURNDALE, Fla. – Defiance College softball fell to 0-8 on the young season after falling in their first two games of an eight-game trip to Florida and Kentucky with a 7-3 loss to Wisconsin-Stout and 8-4 defeat against Lakeland on Monday at the Auburndale Softball Complex.
Final: Wisconsin-Stout 7, Defiance 3
Win: Anna Blanford (1-3)
Loss: Savannah McCoy (0-3)
Save: None
Box Score: Click here
The Yellow Jackets (0-7) were done in by a big second inning by the UW-Stout Blue Devils (1-8), losing 7-3 in their first game at The Spring Games. All seven runs were plated in the home half of the frame and knocked DC starter Savannah McCoy out of the contest.
McCoy worked around one hit and a walk for a scoreless first before yielding four straight singles to start the second. UW-Stout gifted the Yellow Jackets with an out at the plate for the first out of the inning on after Katelyn Belleau's RBI knock to center. The Blue Devils continued to get on base with two more RBI singles sandwiched around a walk to push the lead to 3-0. McCoy issued two free passes with the bases loaded before she was lifted for Maddie Hornung with two outs. Her first batter, Kaylee Peterson, swatted a two-run single to left to cap the lopsided frame at 7-0.
Wisconsin-Stout's Anna Blanford went the distance for the Blue Devils, holding DC to seven hits two walks and struck out five. She retired the first nine Defiance batters until Marissa Roberts connected on a leadoff single in the fourth. The Yellow Jackets were held to just two over the minimum until they scratched one run across in the sixth and two more in the seventh.
Roberts' second hits of the game and a single by Ali Mowen posted two on the paths to start the sixth. Josilyn Guzman drove in Roberts with a two-run hit to left but Mowen was cut down at the dish to limit DC to one run in the inning. In the seventh, Destiny Coil started with a single and scored on a one-out infield hit by Amber Krause. Mowen drove in the final run of the contest with two batters later with a bases-loaded infield single. Blanford halted DC's comeback hopes by inducing a game-ending, bases-loaded popup of Brooke Silcox.
Hornug mopped up well for Defiance and locked down 4.1 scoreless innings of relief for the Yellow Jackets. She allowed two hits and did not walk a hitter or record a strikeout during her shutdown showing.
Final: Lakeland 8, Defiance 4
Win: Madi Johnson (1-0)
Loss: Riley Alcorn (0-1)
Save: None
Box Score: Click here
After building a 2-0 lead in the third inning against Lakeland (3-2), the Yellow Jackets (0-8) were tagged by a six-run fourth and fell 8-4 in the second game of the day.
Defiance stranded two on base in each of the first two innings before breaking through in the third. Marissa Roberts, Ali Mowen and Brooke Silcox hit consecutive singles to bring the first run across followed by an RBI groundout by Josilyn Guzman to put DC ahead 2-0.
The response by the Muskies was a six-run top of the fourth. After scattering three hits over the first three innings against Riley Alcorn, singles by Johnson and Heitman to start the frame. Silcox committed a throwing error from third base on a ball batted by Paige Kislow to allow Madi Johnson to scatter home for Lakeland's first run. Carlie Morrow hit a sacrifice fly to center to plate Abby Heitman to tie the game at 2-2. Three more hits and a hit batter led to a Defiance pitching change for Anika Craft. Inherited runner Sydney Meyer stole second and drew a throw to second base and Juliana Hall scurried in on the play to complete the six-run outburst.
Craft settled in to give Defiance 3.1 innings of two-run ball, allowing four hits, no walks and struck out two. Lakeland pushed single runs across in each of the sixth and seventh on two hits apiece. Two singles and first-to-third running was all the Muskies needed in the sixth while a two-bagger to center and an RBI single did the job in the seventh.
Defiance mounted another late-inning rally with a two-out single by Silcox followed by a two-run homer off Guzman's bat, the first of her senior campaign. Guzman totaled three RBIs while going 2-for-3 in the contest against the Muskies.
Guzman, Roberts and Mowen all had three hits for Defiance in Monday's twinbill.
The Yellow Jackets suit up for two more games in Florida on Thursday with a 9 a.m. contest against the University of Chicago followed by an 11:30 a.m. first pitch versus Wooster.
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