SEWANEE, Tenn. –
Ansley Giffin's RBI single in the bottom of the seventh capped a two-run rally and helped Sewanee to an 8-7 victory over Covenant College in softball action Friday in Columbus, Miss. The Tigers lost the first game, 8-6, to Mississippi University for Women.
Sewanee built a 6-2 lead against Covenant thanks to a bases-loaded RBI single by
Lucy Hensler that turned into a three-bag error and cleared the bases in the second inning.
Grace Black plated a pair of runs with a double in the third and
Maggie Barker scored a run with a double in the fourth.
Abbie Buckner tossed 4.2 innings in the circle for the Tigers, allowing two runs on six hits with four strikeouts. The Scots scored twice in the sixth and three times in the seventh, taking a 7-6 edge.
Barker reached on an error to start the bottom of the seventh, taking second on the play, and pinch-runner
Ace Anderson moved to third on a wild pitch.
Madilyn Parker's infield grounder plated Anderson, knotting the game at seven, and after a walk to
Christian Cain, Giffin delivered the game-winning single to center, pushing across Parker for the 8-7 win.
Buckner, Barker, Giffin and
Sydney Tackett each collected two hits while Barker and Giffin both drove in a run. Black finished 3-for-3 with a run and two RBIs.
In the first game, MUW scored three times in the fourth inning and five more runs in the fifth to take an 8-6 victory.
Buckner, Tackett and Barker each registered two hits and Barker drove in two runs, but the Tigers were unable to overcome the two big innings from the Owls.
Parker gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead with a sacrifice fly in the first, scoring Buckner, but Sewanee missed a chance for more runs, stranding a pair.
Reagan Huskey retired nine of the first 10 batters of the game before MUW plated three runs in the fourth, including a two-run double from Kaylee Crawford.
The Tigers answered with three runs in the fifth, starting when Huskey was hit and Black walked. With two outs Tackett plated a run with a single up the middle and Barker followed with a two-run single to center for a 4-3 edge.
The Owls came right back in the bottom of the inning with five runs on five hits. Addison Owen plated a run with a triple and Brianna Bird's triple to right scored two runs before an RBI single from Sasha King.
Sewanee cut the deficit in half in the sixth with an RBI single by
KK Wadkins and a run-scoring triple from Buckner, but that was as close as the visitors would get.
The Tigers play the same two teams Saturday and then travel to Talladega College for a doubleheader on Sunday to conclude the opening weekend of action.
