DeLand, Fla. ? Down two runs and one out away from defeat, the Stetson softball team (5-2) rallied to tie the game in the seventh and then win it with three runs in the eighth to beat Volusia County rival Bethune-Cookman (1-6) 7-5 Friday evening at Patricia Wilson Field. The freshman middle infield duo of second baseman Heather Barnes (Avon Park, Fla.) and shortstop Chelsey Trotto (Lantana, Fla.) came up with the big hits. Earlier in the day, senior pitcher Erica Demers (Miami, Fla.) tossed a three-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts to lead the Hatters over Albany 5-0. Today's games marked the opening day of the Hatter Invitational.
The nightcap between longtime rivals Stetson and B-CU was one of the most exciting in the series, which Stetson now leads 68-11 with seven straight wins. The Wildcats, playing as the designated home team on the scoreboard, struck first with an unearned run in the bottom of the third and seemed to be riding the right arm of Chastity Sanders to a rare win over the Hatters when junior Katie Lawrence (Hilliard, Fla.) blasted a two-run pinch hit home run off the scoreboard in the top of the fifth to put Stetson ahead 2-1. It was only the second hit all night off Sanders at the time.
Bethune-Cookman refused to go quietly, however, as third baseman Sabrina Ferguson knocked a two-run triple off the right field wall with two out in the bottom of the fifth to retake the lead 3-2. Center fielder Ashton Hinds added a two-out RBI single in the sixth to extend the lead to 4-2. Ferguson was four for four with three RBI on the night.
In the top of the seventh, sophomore right fielder Rachel Lowe (Okeechobee, Fla.) drew a leadoff walk and went to second on a wild pitch; Stetson added another baserunner when sophomore designated player Katelyn Perna (St. Petersburg, Fla.) followed with an infield single. Sanders then came back with consecutive strikeouts and was poised to collect the victory until Barnes cme up with the biggest hit of her young career, driving the first pitch she saw through the left side of the infield and all the way to the base of the wall, scoring both runners and tying the score at four. Sanders induced a groundout from the next batter to end the inning.
After junior pitcher Amanda Lindsey (Byhalia, Miss.) retired the side in order in the bottom of the seventh, the game went to extra innings and the international tie breaker format. With junior center fielder Amy Joyce (Lake Mary, Fla.) placed on second base, Trotto ripped the first Sanders offering off the left center field fence for the RBI double that would prove the game-winner. Lowe added an RBI sacrifice fly and Perna an RBI single later in the inning to tack on a pair of insurance runs.
Ferguson got a run back for the Wildcats with a leadoff RBI single in the bottom of the eighth and B-CU really threatened when they put runners on first and second to bring the potential winning run to the plate with nobody out. Lindsey bore down from there, however, inducing a foul pop up, a pop up to second and a grounder back to the circle to end the game and preserve the win for the Hatters.
Trotto went three for four with two doubles, an RBI and a run scored while Perna was the other Hatter to pick up two base hits. Lawrence's home run was her first of the year and first since her freshman season. Lindsey struck out seven batters in eight innings to earn the win and improve to 3-1 on the season; B-CU became the first team to score an earned run off the Hatters this year. Hinds was the second-leading hitter for the Wildcats behind Ferguson, going two for three with an RBI and two runs scored. Sanders struck out six.
In the earlier game against Albany, the Hatters scored a run in the first when Trotto came home on a Marissa Powell wild pitch; Joyce made it 3-0 in the second on a rare two-run inside-the-park home run, her first career roundtripper. She slapped a Powell pitch hard to center field where it fell under the glove of a diving Kristine Bill and rolled to the wall. The speedy Joyce motored around the bases and scored well ahead of the throw, driving home Barnes in the process.
Those runs were more than enough for Demers, who breezed through the Great Dane lineup for 11 strikeouts, allowing just three singles in the process. Stetson scored two insurance runs on a Trotto RBI single in the third and a Lowe RBI double in the fourth. Trotto finished with two hits in the game and had five on the day. Albany shortstop Andrianna Walraven had two of her team's three hits.
In the first game of the day at the Hatter Invitational, Leah McIntosh tossed a three-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts to lead Albany to a 2-0 win over Bethune-Cookman. Third baseman Meagan Butsch struck the big blow with a two-run homer in the first.
The Hatter Invitational continues tomorrow with three games in the same order as today; Albany vs. B-CU at 1:30 p.m., Stetson-Albany at 4 p.m. and B-CU-Stetson at 6:30 p.m. The Voice of Hatter Fastpitch, Jamie Bataille, calls all the balls and strikes on Hatter Vision, available at www.GoHatters.com, the official online home of Stetson Athletics.
