Conway, Ark. – Hendrix split Saturday's doubleheader with the Sewanee Tigers in thrilling fashion, narrowly losing Game 1 7-6 before fighting back to take Game 2 in extras courtesy of a
Tori Maldonado walk-off base hit in the 8
th.
Game 1 (L, 7-6)
The Tigers drew first blood in the 1
st with two runs scored, but Rylie Harris took advantage of a fielding error by the second baseman in the bottom half of the inning to get Hendrix on the board and halve the deficit.
Sewanee scored six unanswered runs over the next two innings and looked to be in control in the early stages, before
Emma Salis entered in relief and shut the door on the Tigers. The sophomore tossed four shutout frames without giving up a hit to set the stage for a potential comeback.
Hendrix scratched two across in the 5
th with RBI singles from
Andie Houser and
Kendyl Patton after
Ashlynn Fowler smoked a one-hit double to the wall in right field.
Betty Wolfe led off the 6
th with a single, and
Paizley Vaught wore a pitch to put two on with one out. Fowler then drove them both in with a double down the left field line. Salis stepped up with two gone in the inning and drove a double out to right field to score Fowler and trim the lead to one.
After Salis retired the side in the 7
th,
Tori Maldonado led off the bottom of the inning with her third hit of the game, this time a double to left center.
Maggie Groves entered as the pinch-runner, representing the tying-run at second base with no outs, but was left stranded on the base paths as the next three hitters were retired to end the ball game.
Fowler (L, 1-8) was the pitcher of record after surrendering 7 runs in 3.0 IP of work while going 3-4 at the plate with 2 RBIs.
Game 2 (W, 8-7)
Sewanee raced out to an early lead with a 5-spot in the 1
st inning before tacking one more on in the 2
nd. Hendrix hit back with a big inning of their own, plating 6 runs in the bottom of the 2
nd to tie the game at 6-6.
The away side took their lead back in the 3
rd, but
Nakia Fields singled in the 5
th to drive in
Ashlynn Fowler after the latter led off the inning with her third double of the afternoon.
Salis, who entered in relief back in the 1
st, retired the first two hitters she faced in both the 7
th and the 8
th innings before allowing two-out singles in each, but was able to secure the third out in each and set up the walk-off opportunity.
Tori Veith led off the 8
th with a long ball to left field that looked to be the winner off the bat, but had to settle for a stand-up double and put the winning run in scoring position.
Rylee Harris pinch-ran for Veith, and reached third base after Fields grounded out to second base.
Tori Maldonado stepped up to plate, having gone 3-4 in Game 1 and 1-3 prior to the 8
th inning, and smoked the first pitch she saw through the right side to score Harris and even the series at one game apiece.
Emma Salis (W, 4-2) was the pitcher of record after entering in relief of
Sadie Lewis, scattering 10 hits across 8 IP and only allowing 2 runs across.
Peyton Frady, Fowler, Veith, Fields, and Maldonado each enjoyed two-hit outings.
Betty Wolfe finished 1-4 with 2 RBIs and a run scored.
Up Next: Hendrix (7-22, 2-12 SAA) will go for the series in the rubber match tomorrow. First pitch is scheduled for 12:00 PM at Warrior Softball Field, with Senior Day festivities set to begin approximately 20 minutes prior.
