SALISBURY, MD – The Williams College Softball Team (23-16) played their second game of the NCAA Championship today versus Salisbury University (41-3), losing 7-2, after an especially difficult second inning for the Ephs.
In the first game, the Ephs leadoff hitter
Tayler Wise started off the day with a single to left field for the second day in a row. The Ephs didn't score, though, until the bottom of the second inning.
Bailey Burger-Moore walked, and
Lauren Haywood grounded out to second base, helping Burger-Moore advance.
Ronni Ramos then doubled down the left field line, allowing her teammate to score.
The Seagulls scored 5 of their 7 runs in the top of the second inning, when, with bases loaded, pitcher Lindsey Windsor hit a grand slam over the left field fence. The Ephs next and last run of the game came in the fifth when Kelly McGuigan homered to center field.
Sadie Leonard took the loss for the Ephs going just 1.2 innings and now is 17-5 on the year.
Elyse Chan who pitched the final 5.2 innings.
The second game of the day vs. Framingham State was to determine which team would advance to play host Salisbury tomorrow at noon.
The Ephs got on the scoreboard in the second inning when
Kayla Chang singled to left and promptly stole second base.
Bri Kang brought Chang home with a two out single to left field and the Ephs led 1-0.
Leonard struck out the side in the bottom of the second inning giving her 5 strikeouts in the game and four in a row.
In the fourth inning Vicky Balderas led off with a single and a two out double down left field line by
Adhya Tandon scored Balderas to up the Eph lead to 2-0. Tandon moved to third on a groundout and then scored on a single to center field by
Tayler Wise and the Eph lead was now 3-0. Wise then stole second base, but
Sydney Fleming popped out to shortstop to end the inning.
Leonard walked the first two Framingham batters to open the bottom of the third inning and then struck out the third and fourth batters. A ball in the dirt advanced the two runners to second and third, but Leonard induced the next batter to ground out to shortstop Ronnie Ramos to end the inning.
Kayla Chang led off the 6
th inning with a bunt single and Framingham removed pitcher Olyvia Mendoca and brought in Rylynn Witek.
Chang stole second base on the first pitch from Witek.
Kaia Glickman walked to put Eph runners on first and second. Next
Bri Kang walked to load the bases for
Tayler Wise.
Wise hit a grounder to the drawn in shortstop who made a throw home for the first out.
Sydney Fleming singled to center to drive in the Ephs' fourth run. Kelly McGuigan hit a ground ball single to center that drove in two runs and upped the Eph lead to 6-0.
Allie Moran came in to relieve Witek after the McGuigan single. A ground ball to shortstop by
Bailey Burger-Moore resulted in a throwing error and the Ephs scored two more runs to take an 8-0 lead.
Madison Mok relieved
Sadie Leonard in the bottom of the 6
th inning. Mikaela Rooney led off with a single to center field for the Rams. A groundout to shortstop moved Rooney to second base and then a passed ball moved the Rooney to third base. A line drive single to center field by Gwen Carpenter scored the Rams first run.
Talia Duca walked to put Rams on first and second. Kelsey McGill belted a 3-run homer to right field bringing the score to 8-4, Ephs. Mok was then relieved by
Sadie Leonard. Leonard struck out Keely Scotia and Zoe Smyth for the second and third outs of the inning.
In the seventh inning
Kayla Chang led off with a single to shortstop.
Kaia Glickman was retired on a fly out to left field.
Kayla Chang stole second for her third stolen base of the game.
Bri Kang was out on a fly to right field.
A two-out double to left by
Tayler Wise brought home Glickman and made the score 9-4.
Framingham's Angelina Lynch hit a fly to left field for the first out. Brooke Grassia grounded out to second base for the second out. The third out came when Leonard struck out Mikaela Rooney.
With the win over Framingham State
Sadie Leonard improved to 18-5 on the year and established the Eph single season record for most wins at 18. Leonard went 6.2 innings to get the win and she struck out 12 batters. The Ephs improved to 24-16 on the year.
Williams will play regional host Salisbury tomorrow at noon. Williams will have to defeat Salisbury twice on Saturday to advance in the NCAA Tournament, while Salisbury needs just one more win over the Ephs to advance.
Eph head coach
Kris Herman summed up the day saying, "We had a great day at the field today. Sadie pitched with guts as well as skill and the bats came alive this afternoon. Another true team effort and we are excited to play a great Salisbury team tomorrow."
