CLERMONT, Fla. – The Kalamazoo College softball team moves to 7-5 on the season after splitting a pair of games on the final day of their spring break trip in Florida on Tuesday afternoon. The Hornets took Luther to 11 innings to secure an 8-7 win before falling to UW Platteville 8-6.
Kalamazoo ends their time at The Spring Games in Florida with a 6-4 record.
Game One vs Luther – W, 8-7 (11 inn.)
Kalamazoo was first on the board, putting up three runs to take an early lead in the third inning.
Jordan Wesaw started the Hornets offense with a single up the middle to drive in
Brenna Fisher and advance
Landrie Fridsma to third.
Macy Ward drove in a pair of runs on a single to the left side, sending Fridsma and Wesaw across the plate to take a 3-0 lead.
Both teams went scoreless until the seventh inning when Luther recorded their first run on a walk before tying the game at three a piece on a single up the middle to send it to extra innings.
In the 10
th inning, Kalamazoo pulled ahead after a double to left field to score Ward, followed by a single to right field by Fisher to give the Hornets a 5-3 lead. Luther responded back immediately with a single shot to center field to drive two runs in, tying the game up at five.
The Hornets were able to put it away in the 11
th after capitalizing on a walk to bring in the go ahead run.
Emma Newlove added two insurance runs for Kalamazoo as she singled through the left side to drive in Ward and
Bella Caza to make it an 8-5 game. Luther put up two runs in the bottom of the 11
th inning to make it 8-7 but were unable to complete the comeback.
Maddie Potts earned the win (3-0) after tossing five innings, allowing four hits and four runs.
Brenna Fisher and
Jordan Wesaw both went 3-6 with an RBI, while
Emma Newlove went 2-4 with a double and three RBIs.
Macy Ward added two hits and two RBIs.
Game Two vs UW Platteville – L, 8-6
Kalamazoo jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a single down the left field line by
Bella Caza to drive in
Brenna Fisher.
UW Platteville responded back in the third inning with five runs before adding on two more in the fifth to make it 7-1.
Lily Evans hit her first career solo shot to left in the bottom of the fifth to make it a 7-2 game. The Pioneers responded with another run in the sixth inning to take a six-run lead.
Emma Newlove cut the deficit in half after a 3-run homer to left field to drive in
Macy Ward and
Delaney Lee to turn it into an 8-5 ballgame in the bottom of the sixth.
In the bottom of the seventh,
Shelby Bennett hit a sacrifice fly to center field to drive in
Lily Evans to make it a two-run game, but the Hornets were unable to finish the comeback.
Cecilia Schihl got the start in the circle and was handed the loss (2-1).
Emma Newlove went 2-4 with a home run and three RBIs.
Brenna Fisher went 2-4,
Lily Evans went 2-2, while
Bella Caza and
Delaney Lee both added a hit.
Kalamazoo returns home on Friday, March 28
th, as they host Ohio Wesleyan in a doubleheader beginning at 3:00 p.m.