CLERMONT, FL – The RIT softball team (5-5) finished its Florida spring trip with a split on Wednesday afternoon. The Tigers fell to Millikin University (5-6) late, 7-4, before rallying back, cruising to a 9-1 victory over Thomas College (2-5) in five innings at Hancock Park.
In the first game, smart base running and timely plays gave RIT the early lead on Millikin. After the Big Blue scored two early runs in the first inning, the Tigers tied it up in the bottom of the frame. After
McKenzie Martin (Deposit, NY/Deposit) led off with a single,
Tori Blaker (Corning, NY/Corning-Painted Post West) reached on an error by the third baseman. As Blaker attempted to steal second base, an errant throw by the catcher scored Martin.
Amanda Cook (Royal Palm Beach, FL/Suncoast) later doubled to right field, tying the game. In the next inning, after singles by
Emily Shoemaker (Rochester, NY/Greece Athena) and
Emily Lazarus (Whitehall, PA/Allentown Catholic), Martin hit the ball up the middle, scoring Lazarus to give the Tigers the lead. On a Martin steal of second base, Shoemaker read the catcher perfectly, running on the throw to second to score from third base to execute the double steal, giving the Tigers the 4-2 lead.
Millikin tied the game in the top of the third inning on RBIs by Kirsten Iversen and Cathy Lebryk. From there,
Lauren Mahar (Rotterdam, NY/Schalmont) kept the Millikin bats at bay, throwing three scoreless innings to keep the score tied. Clutch defense helped as well. With a runner on second base, ALyssa Visvardis hit a deep fly to left field.
Alexa Farner (Gowanda, NY/Gownanda) tracked the ball perfectly and made a jumping catch at the fence, robbing Visvardis of a potential home run.
In the top of the seventh, Millikin broke through, scoring three runs, finishing the scoring on a two run double by Alexis Dockins down the right field line. With the Tigers batting in the bottom of the frame, and the potential winning run at the plate in Cook, she grounded out to third base in what was a close play to end the contest.
Martin batted 2-for-4, with a run batted in. Shoemaker added two hits in three at-bats, as the Tigers garnered eight hits total. Mahar pitched a complete game, striking out five batters.
RIT got revenge in game two against Thomas. The Tigers began the game with three big innings, getting two runs in the first on RBIs by
Sam Killian (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder) and
Emma Sarles (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park). The next inning, Cook hit a big two-run single, and Shoemaker scored on an error by the third baseman in a three-run inning. RIT topped it in the third inning, putting up a four spot to push the lead to 9-0. Farner,
Sarah Thayer (Tully, NY/Fabius-Pompey), and Cook drove in runs, and Killian drove in her second run, going to second base on a throwing error.
The nine runs were more than enough for
Sierra Valentine (Rochester, NY/Greece Athena), who was lights-out. Valentine shut down the Thomas offense in a complete game, allowing just two hits in five innings, with a career-best 13 strikeouts. Cook went 3-for-3 in the second game, driving in three runs to lead the Tigers. Killian, Shoemaker, and Martin each tallied two hits. The Tigers tallied 13 hits as a team.
The Tigers finished .500 on their 10-game Florida trip, one in which they averaged 6.6 runs per contest. Martin leads the Tigers with a scorching .500 average, scoring 12 runs. Cook led the team in runs batted in during the trip with 16. She is second on the team in batting average with .471. Blaker (.438) and
Danielle Hotz (Drexel Hill, PA/Upper Darby) (.400) are all hitting .400 or better for the Tigers, who are batting .366 as a team.
The Tigers return to the Empire State, taking on Keuka College in a road doubleheader on March 30, starting at 3 p.m.
