CLERMONT, Fla. — The Knox College softball team played a pair of games at THE Spring Games in Florida this afternoon, coming up short in both contests, 6-4 against Gallaudet University and 11-3 versus Brockport. The Prairie Fire (0-12) rallied for three runs in the sixth against Gallaudet, but they couldn't quite come all the way back.
The Bison (3-13) jumped out to a 4-0 lead thanks to four unearned runs in the second, but Knox got one back in the third on an RBI single by first-year Kenzi Chandler. Another unearned run in the bottom half and a tally in the fourth gave Gallaudet a 6-1 lead, though the Prairie Fire put up a fight in the sixth.
Singles by fifth-year Haylee Carpenter and junior Maddie Hicks opened the frame, and junior Taylor Goudschaal delivered a one-out RBI single up the middle. Hicks was able to score when Goudschaal hustled to second on a grounder and beat the throw, and first-year Chelsea McKee then lined a pinch-hit RBI single to center to close the gap to two. Knox loaded the bases when senior Maddie Poetzinger beat out an infield hit, but a foul pop to third ended the threat with the tying runs in scoring position, and Gallaudet held on for the win without a threat in the seventh.
Lacey Drolsbaugh (1-5) earned her first victory, going the distance while allowing four runs, all earned, on 10 Prairie Fire hits while striking out five. Sophomore Charlie Davison (0-6) got the tough-luck loss despite yielding just one earned run on nine hits over her six stanzas, walking two and striking out two.
In Knox's second game of the day, Brockport (4-4) scored in each of the five innings while setting a school record with six triples in the game, with two off the bat of catcher Reagan Myers who was a perfect 3-for-3.
The Prairie Fire had six hits in the contest, two apiece for first-year Lauren O'Neill, Goudschaal and Carpenter. Goudschaal doubled and scored in the fourth before producing a two-run single in the fifth, but Knox could not avoid the run rule.
Hadley Alguire (1-1) claimed the win, allowing three runs, two earned, over 4.1 innings of work in the circle with two walks and two whiffs. Fifth-year Londyn Nelson (0-4) pitched all five frames for the Prairie Fire and did not walk a batter.
Knox gets a day off tomorrow before playing two more games on Friday, March 21 at THE Spring Games against a pair of New Hampshire schools in Keene State (3-3) at 12:15 p.m. (EDT) and Plymouth State (6-2) at 2:30 p.m. (EDT). Both contests will be played at the Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex in Leesburg, Florida.
