Game 1 Recap
KNOXVILLE, Tennessee – The Marist softball team suffered a 10-2 loss in six innings to #13 Tennessee in its opening game of the NCAA Knoxville Regional on Saturday.
With two outs in the top of the first, Marist junior catcher Rebecca Freeman opened the scoring with a two-run homer to left-center field. Freeman’s blast brought home senior shortstop Kyrsten Van Natta, who had drawn a walk on a 3-2 pitch.
Tennessee tied the game with a two-run second. First baseman Gretchen Aucoin doubled high off the wall in center field, which brought home third baseman Lexi Overstreet. Aucoin came home on a two-out infield single by right fielder CJ McClain. Center fielder Megan Geer homered to lead off the third to give the Volunteers a 3-2 lead.
Tennessee added three runs in the fourth on a bases loaded walk by Geer, followed by consecutive sacrifice flies from Overstreet and Aucoin. In the sixth, the Volunteers ended the game by scoring four runs to win by the eight-run rule. Shortstop Meghan Gregg had an RBI double in the inning, and the Volunteers scored their final three runs on a passed ball, an illegal pitch, and a bases-loaded walk.
Tennessee outhit Marist, 9-3. McClain finished 3-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI.
Jayne Oberdorf (16-4), who started and went three-plus innings, took the loss. Oberdorf had won 15 straight decisions entering Saturday’s game. Erin Gabriel (20-6), who started and went 4.1 innings, earned the victory. Matt Moss got the final five outs for her second save.
Marist fell to 45-12. Tennessee improved to 42-14. The Red Foxes will return to action at 5 p.m., when the Red Foxes take on Ohio State in an elimination game. The contest will be carried on ESPN3. To watch, please click here: http://es.pn/24ZL31q.
Notes: In the top of the fifth, senior first baseman Maureen Duddy set the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference career record for stolen bases with her 119th. Duddy stole second base on the play, and then stole third to give her 120. She went 1-for-3 with a double. … In the bottom of the first inning, Freeman threw out Geer trying to steal. Geer was 24-for-24 on stolen baes this season, and 53-for-54 in her career. … Sophomore third baseman Brittany Colombo was hit by a pitch in the top of the second for the 31st time in her career. … Freshman left fielder Casey Page made a diving catch on a sinking line drive hit by Overstreet in the third. Page singled and had four putouts.
Game 2 Recap
KNOXVILLE, Tennessee – The Marist softball team had its winningest season in its 25 years as a program come to an end against Ohio State on Saturday evening in the Knoxville Regional. The Red Foxes fell by a score of 6-1.
Senior infielder Maureen Duddy had two hits in the game, which enabled her to tie the program record with 236 career hits. Duddy set the program’s single-season hits record with 72.
Ohio State opened the scoring in the bottom of the first. Center fielder Taylor White laced a two-out, two-run triple into the right field corner, which brought home second baseman Emily Clark and shortstop Maddy McIntyre. White then gave the Buckeyes a 3-0 lead with a homer to left-center leading off the home half of the fourth.
In the bottom of the fifth, Ohio State ran its lead to 5-0 on a two-run homer by Clark. Right fielder Alex Bayne followed with an opposite field homer over the wall in right.
The Red Foxes got runners to second base in both the first, fourth, and fifth innings – and had first and second in the fourth and fifth – but were unable to push any runs across. Marist scored its lone run in the seventh when freshman Madison Lee drew a walk in a pinch-hitting appearance, and scored on a passed ball with two outs.
Red-shirt junior Jessica Van Alphen (10-4) took the loss. Van Alphen started and went four-plus innings.
Marist’s final record for the 2016 season is 45-13.
Please check back later at GoRedFoxes.com for more details on the game.
Notes: Junior catcher Rebecca Freeman was 2-for-2 throwing out runners attempting to steal in the game, and 3-for-4 on the day. … Freshman second baseman Claire Oberdorf made a great diving catch on a line drive headed up the middle off the bat of Ohio State left fielder Cammi Prantl for the second out in the third.