CLERMONT, Fla.-- Just six games into the 2011 season, the Williams College softball team has found its idenity.
Never give up.
The Ephs won a pair of thrillers Thursday, defeating Trinity College (Conn.) 13-8 and scoring twice in the bottom of the eighth to edge Eastern Connecticut State, 9-8. The victories left Williams at 6-0 heading into play Friday, when it meets Buffalo State (9:30 a.m.) and Wisconsin Stevens Point (11:30 a.m.).
The nightcap with the Warriors was a back-and-forth affair. The Ephs led 2-1 and 4-2 before the Warriors tied it at four and then scored three times in the top of the seventh for a 7-4 lead. Williams fought back to tie it. Cedar Blazek singled with one out and Alyssa Quann pinch ran for her. Mary Beth Daub followed with a single. Kaitlin Dinet followed with a clutch three-run homer that knotted the game at 7-7.
After EConn regained the lead with a run in the top of the eighth, the Ephs were at it again. With the international tiebreaker in affect,Theresa Legan started the frame at second. A wild pitch moved her to third. Ali Hart then tied the game with an RBI-double. After a walk and a single, Daub sent the Ephs home happy with a game-winning basehit that scored Hart.
Daub earned the win from the circle, going all eight innings and allowing 12 hits while walking five and striking out six. She allowed eight runs, all earned.
Dinet led the way at the plate, going 3 for 4 with 5 RBI and a run scored. Blazek was 3 for 4 with a run scored. Daub was 3 for 3 with an RBI and two runs scored.
In the early game Thursday, the Ephs built an early 6-0 lead only to watch Trinity score seven runs in the bottom of the third to take the lead. Williams answered back with a six-run top of the fourth to take a 12-7 lead en route to the 13-9 victory.
The big seven-run fourth for Williams was highlighted by Merrilee Weston beating out a squeeze bunt to tie the game. Caitlyn Cain, who had singled, scored the go-ahead run on an error, and a two-run single by Daub made it 10-7 Williams.
Megan Casey earned the win, going seven innings and allowing 10 hits while walking five and striking out six. She allowed nine runs, seven which were earned.
Williams had 15 hits in the win. Cain was 4 for 5 with two runs scored. Weston was 2 for 3 with an RBI and two runs scored. Daub was 2 for 5 with three runs scored and two RBI. Dinet was 2 for 5 with an RBI and Legan was 2 for 4 with an RBI.
