MIAMI SHORES, Fla. – After being held in check at the plate in a 5-2 loss in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, the Embry-Riddle softball team erupted on offense in the nightcap, winning in five innings 9-0 to capture a Sunshine State Conference series win over Barry.
In the opener, the Eagles (8-3, 5-1) struggled to get any kind of offense going, as they were held hitless through the first six innings of play, with their only baserunners coming via the walk and fielder's choice.
Barry (8-12, 1-5) took the lead in the second inning on a one-out solo homerun to left by Kayla Posten. The Bucs would add two more runs in the third inning on an RBI single by Courtney Chisholm and a safety squeeze by Cassandra Lee, as Chisholm narrowly avoided the tag of a diving
Katy Thompson to make it a 3-0 game.
Two more Buccaneer runs would score in the fifth inning, one on a fielder's choice by Payton Germer to score Chisholm, and the other coming on a steal-and-stop play with runners on the corners, as Taylor Checkley crossed home just before Germer was tagged out in a rundown retreating to first.
A seventh-inning rally would fall short, as the Eagles were able to score only two in the final frame.
Lisa Hop led off with a single and was followed by a
ReAnne Drayton walk and
Michy Ramos single. Two runs would score when
Jamie Mead flared a ball to shallow right field that fell in front Savannah Starling, but the recovery throw was in time to force Ramos out at second after she initially retreated back to first base. Thompson hit into a 6-3 double play to end matters in game one.
Kelsi Collins (2-2) struck out six in her five innings of work, allowing five runs, of which only three were earned, on six hits before
Lisa Hop came in to work a clean sixth inning of relief. Hop and Ramos each recorded a hit, with Hop and Drayton scoring the only Eagle runs.
Sarah Johnson (5-3) took a no-hit bid into the seventh but had that broken up with a single to open the inning. Johnson finished the game allowing two runs on two hits, and relied heavily on her defense, as she recorded just one strikeout out of the 25 batters she faced. Chisholm led the Barry offense with a 2-3 game and was one of four Bucs to drive in a run.
Game two saw ERAU grab the lead with a four-run third inning after both sides exchanged zeros for two innings.
Maggie Scott kicked the inning off with a bunt single and advanced to third on dropped throw error on a ball off the bat of
Lia Johnson. After a stolen base,
Lisa Hop reached on an error by the shortstop which allowed Scott to touch home. A
ReAnne Drayton single loaded the bases for
Michy Ramos, who worked a full-count walk to force home Johnson. A ball off the bat of
Jamie Mead ended up hitting Ramos as she was advancing to second, which resulted in Ramos being called out and all runners returning to their previous base. Little did that matter, as two pitches later,
Katy Thompson was plunked to force home Hop and make it 3-0. Drayton scored the final run of the inning as
Lauren Latoria hit into a fielder's choice at third base for a force out to make it 4-0 ERAU.
The Eagles scored three more times in the fourth inning, putting things close to out of reach. Scott and Johnson would reach on back-to-back singles to get things going. After a double steal with one out, Drayton would reach on an error by the shortstop that would allow Scott to score. Ramos followed with a single to left to bring Johnson in and make it 6-0. A Mead single back up the middle would aplate Drayton and make it 7-0 in favor of the visitors.
The Blue & Gold entered run-rule territory in the fifth inning, as Scott singled to center to plate
Savannah Brockenbrough after she reached on an error to lead off. Brockenbrough, who initially flew out to right field, was brought back to the plate after a substitution error by Barry. After a single by Johnson, pop out and fielder's choice, a Ramos sacrifice fly brought Scott across the plate to make it a 9-0 contest.
Jayla Jackson (4-1) collected the 27th win of her career, moving her past Raquelli Bianco into fourth on the Embry-Riddle all-time wins list. The senior struck out four and allowed four hits as she recorded her second shutout of 2020. Scott and Johnson each went 3-4 and scored five times between them. Ramos collected three more RBI with a 1-3 game and Drayton scored twice, going 1-4.
Cassandra Lee (1-3) took her second loss of the series, as she was tagged for seven runs on seven hits, while walking three and striking out four in four innings. Jordanna Hartley worked the fifth inning and allowed two runs on two hits with a strikeout. Payton Germer recorded two of the Bucs' four hits in the contest. The Barry defense, which was nearly flawless in the day's first game, was charged with five errors in the nightcap.
Embry-Riddle will be back in action Tuesday evening for a non-conference doubleheader against Davenport, with first pitch set for 4 p.m. at the ERAU Softball Stadium.
