Softball sweeps Alma to improve to .500 on the season
Defiance, Ohio - After starting the year 0-11, Defiance College softball has won 13 of their last 15 games to claw back to .500 on the season after a sweep of Alma Wednesday afternoon at Sal Hench Field. The Yellow Jackets won by scores of 7-6 and 3-2 to improve to 13-13 overall. Alma falls to 13-14.
Game 1
Final: Defiance 7, Alma 6
Ali Mowen stepped to the plate in the bottom of the seventh with the bases loaded and no outs with the game tied at 6. She put the ball in play and reached on a fielder's choice that scored Brooke Silcox to earn the walk off win in game one.
It was a sloppy start to the game for both sides as each team committed two errors in the first inning and each team scored two unearned runs in the first.
A home run from Silcox put the Yellow Jackets on top 3-2 in the third. That would hold only momentarily as Alma's Aynslee Kroutz launched a two-run home run over the left field wall in the 5th to give her team a 4-3 lead.
The Yellow Jackets did have an answer in the bottom of the 5th to retake the lead. Lily Linke drew a bases loaded walk to bring in Kelly Limbaugh and Mowen added a two-run single.
Alma scored one in the sixth and an unearned run in the seventh to tie the game up.
Brooke Silcox started the seventh with a bloop single down the right field line. Josilyn Guzman followed with a walk and Lily Linke was hit by a pitch to load the bases with nobody out. Mowen then stepped up and drove in the winning run.
Riley Alcorn started for Defiance and pitched 4.1 innings. Savannah McCoy earned the win to improve to 5-6 on the season by relieving Alcorn and pitching the final 2.2 innings. Alcorn struck out four compared to three by McCoy. Silcox led the team with two hits and Mowen finished with three RBIs. Guzman also walked three times.
Mikaylyn Kenney (L, 4-4) took the loss for the Scots after relieving starter Daniella Little. Taylor Griffith and Danielle Dumoulin had two hits each.
Game 2
Final: Defiance 3, Alma 2
After the slug fest in game one, game two was a pitching duel between Alma's Morgan Westall and Anika Craft. The two pitchers combined to retire the first seven batters of the game.
Defiance put a rally together in the third inning and took advantage of an error to take a 2-0 lead. Destiny Coil led off with a double and would score on a Laney Grimwood sacrifice bunt. Grimwood came around to score on a single by Marissa Roberts.
The Yellow Jackets tacked on another in the fourth to make it 3-0. Kelly Limbaugh scored on a sacrifice bunt by Ali Mowen.
The three runs turned out to be just enough as Alma rallied in the final inning but could only manage two runs. The Scots trimmed the lead to 3-2 and had the game-tying run on second base with no outs. Anika Craft escaped the jam and retired the final three batters to strand the runner on second to end the game.
Craft got the win to improve to 7-5 on the season. She pitched the complete game, allowed one earned run and struck out five. Morgan Westall (L, 5-4) struck out seven for Alma.
Five Yellow Jackets had one hit each and Brooke Silcox walked twice. Danielle Dumoulin had the only RBI for the Scots.
The Yellow Jackets next hit the road on Saturday for a big HCAC doubleheader at nationally ranked Transylvania. Game one is set for 1 p.m.
