The Pirate softball team traveled to Dothan, Alabama for four games against top competition this past weekend. They dropped a couple of close games to nationally ranked opponents before closing the weekend with a win over Georgia Military (GM). Continue reading below for individual game recaps.
Salt Lake 3 PSC 2 (9 innings)
In the first game of the weekend the Pirates went to extra innings against no. 14 ranked Salt Lake Community College. With the game still tied at 0-0 after seven innings the teams entered the international tie breaker where the last out from the previous inning is placed on second base. Salt Lake drew first blood with a single to make the score 1-0 before Shayne O'Connell struck out two Bruins to end the threat. Madison Myers was placed on second base for the Pirates and Kayla Leibman sacrifice bunted her to third and she scored on a single to left field by Kaeleen Koehler. A double play ended the inning and the teams moved onto the ninth. After a sacrifice bunt, Mia Cullimore drove a 1-2 pitch over the centerfield fence to give Salt Lake a 3-1 lead. In the bottom of the ninth a ground ball from Natalie Sorensen drove in a run to make the score 3-2, but PSC failed to score another run and the game ended.
Raquel Latta was 3-for-3 in the game with a double while Koehler was 2-for-4. Shayne O'Connell went the distance on the mound and struck out 11 while only giving up five hits.
Central Alabama 7 PSC 2
In the second game of the day the Pirates took an early 2-0 lead before their bats went quiet and they dropped a 7-2 decision to Central Alabama. Kaeleen Koehler was 1-for-3 in the game with an RBI while Ana Reyes was 1-for-2 with a double. Savannah Foster threw a complete game and struck out eight while only allowing four hits.
PSC 8 Central Florida 11
The first game on Saturday against Central Florida turned into a slugfest as the Pirates collected 16 hits and the no. 6 ranked Patriots had 12. Central Florida jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning, but the Pirates fought back and plated four runs in the third with the highlight being a 2-RBI triple to right field by Natalie Sorensen. Unfortunately Central Florida used a bases loaded triple in their half of the inning to extend the lead to 8-4. In the top of the fifth an RBI double from Raquel Latta made the score 8-5 and an error by the Raiders allowed another run to score making it 8-6. Another triple in the bottom of the fifth made the score 9-6 before the Pirates used doubles from Kaeleen Koehler and Ashley Valnecia to plate another run. An error and a double in the bottom of the sixth allowed Central Florida to extend their lead to 11-7. In the top of the seventh the Pirates threatened when Madison Myers singled, Koehler was hit by a pitch and Alexis Guzman singled to center to make the score 11-8, but the rally fell short and the game ended.
Sorensen was 3-for-4 in the game with a triple and 2 RBI's while Valencia (2 doubles and 2 RBI's) and Myers (2 runs scored) were 3-for-5. Raquel Latta made her first appearance on the mound and threw 5.2 innings.
PSC 7 Georgia Military 0
In the final game of the weekend the Pirates defeated a strong Georgia Military team 7-0. An RBI single from Kaeleen Koehler in the top of the first drove in Madison Myers to kick off the scoring. Myers led off with a single in the top of the third and scored on another single from Koehler to make it 2-0. The bats were quiet until the fifth when Koehler doubled and later scored on a sacrifice fly from Natalie Sorensen. Ana Reyes singled to plate another run and an error allowed the Pirates to extend their lead to 5-0. The Pirates rounded out their scoring in the seventh when back-to-back singles from Kat McGlamry and Reyes set the table for Raquel Latta to drive them in on a hard hit ball to right field.
PSC had 11 hits in the game with Koehler (double, 2 RBI's) and Reyes (RBI, run scored) both going 3-for-4. Shayne O'Connell (5-1) picked up the win and struck out five before Savannah Foster came on in relief and only allowed one hit in 2.2 innings of work.
The Pirates will host Chattanooga State on Thursday, February 14th in a doubleheader that will begin at 3:00 pm.