MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The Sweet Briar College softball team (5-5, 0-0 ODAC) split day one of action during spring break, taking down the University of Massachusetts Boston Beacons (2-1, 0-0 LEC) 8-7 in 9 innings, before falling to the St. Joseph's University Long Island Golden Eagles, 6-10.
Game One
The Vixens tallied the first five runs of the game in the third and fourth innings thanks to a pass ball scoring sophomore
Kaylie Hudson (Lynchburg, Va.), an error allowing first-year
Ambyre Taylor (Arrington, Va.) to cross home plate and a triple from Hudson.
The Beacons pushed back with five runs scored through the fifth-seventh innings to tie the game up and force extra action.
Two additional runs by UMass Boston put the pressure on Sweet Briar in the eighth as first-year
Jordan Martin (Wilmington, N.C.) stepped up to the plate and hit a triple to tie the game back up once again.
A stellar defense holding the Beacons scoreless in the ninth along with a single from sophomore Lauren Jameson (Buckingham, Va.) gave the Vixens the 8-7 victory.
Taylor got the start in the circle and went 7.1 innings while striking out five. Sophomore
Alyssa O'Quinn earned the victory after coming in for 1.2 innings of action and striking out three while giving up no earned runs.
Martin led the team with four hits and sophomore
Kaydin Williams (Richlands, N.C.) recorded 11 putouts at first base in the victory.
Game Two
After a scoreless first two innings of play in game two, it was St. Joseph's who got on the board first with two runs in the third.
Sweet Briar answered with a three-run fourth inning as first-year
Emily Roberts (Walkertown, N.C.) scored on an error and Williams hit a double to bring home fellow sophomore
Victoria Tew (Hope Mills, N.C.) and Hudson.
Two more additional runs by the Vixens in the fifth off of a sacrifice fly from Hudson and a single from Tew increased the teams' lead to 5-2.
It would be all Golden Eagles from then on out, though, with the visitors scoring eight runs in the next two innings to take the 10-6 victory.
O'Quinn pitched a full seven innings while striking out four. Defensively, first-year
Lacey Steppe (Charlotte County, Va.), sophomore
Melanie Rees (Partlow, Va.) and Tew led the team with three putouts.
Highlights
- Williams' 11 put outs in game one is her second-highest total this season.
- Taylor now has a total of 30 strikeouts, the second most in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC)
What's Next
The Vixens will wrap up action in Myrtle Beach tomorrow against Thiel at 9 a.m. and Clarks Summit at 1 p.m.
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