DeLand, Fla. - For the second straight night, the Stetson softball team (6-3) rallied from a late deficit to defeat Bethune-Cookman. Saturday, it was sophomore outfielder Rachel Lowe's (Okeechobee, Fla.) two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning that lifted the Hatters to a 3-2 victory over the Wildcats in day two of the Hatter Invitational at Patricia Wilson Field. Stetson fell in extra innings to Albany 2-1 earlier in the day.
In the nightcap, Bethune-Cookman (1-8) scored two quick runs in the first inning and maintained a 2-1 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth. With one out, freshman second baseman Heather Barnes (Avon Park, Fla.) singled and Lowe followed with a blast over the rightcenter field fence off B-CU pitcher Allison Garcia to put Stetson in front for the first time
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Senior pitcher Erica Demers (Miami, Fla.) worked out of trouble in the top of the seventh to preserve the victory - her 70th career win. The Hatter senior also recorded four strikeouts in the game, bringing her career total to 498. She needs just eight more punchouts to break the all-time school record. Cesley Tafoya had a two-run double to lead the Wildcats. The Hatters have won eight straight over their cross-county rivals, including all three meetings in 2009.
In the afternoon game, Stetson's Amanda Lindsey (Byhalia, Miss.) and Albany's Leah McIntosh locked up in a pitcher's duel that remained scoreless after three innings. In the top of the fourth, senior first baseman Andrea Migliori (Winter Garden, Fla.) homered to left - her third round-tripper of the season - to give Stetson a 1-0 lead, but the Great Danes (3-1) answered with a run in their half of the fourth. Gina Mason walked, stole second, and scored on Jessica Bergin's RBI single to center.
Neither team was able to score again in regulation, and with the international tie-break rule in effect in the top of the eighth, the Hatters loaded the bases with two outs, but McIntosh retired the side with her 16th strikeout of the game to keep the score deadlocked. In the bottom of the eighth, the Great Danes loaded the bases with no outs. After a strikeout and a force out at the plate left the bases loaded with two outs, Bergin walked on a 3-2 pitch to force in the winning run. All three Stetson losses this season have come in extra innings.
Albany defeated Bethune-Cookman 7-3 in the first game of the day. The Great Danes and Hatters are each 3-1 on the weekend. The two teams will play again at 10 am Sunday with the winner claiming the Hatter Invitational championship. Stetson and Bethune-Cookman will play at 12:30 pm. Jamie Bataille, the Voice of Hatter Fastpitch, calls all the action on Hatter Vision with live stats also available; all this can be found at www.GoHatters.com, the official online home of Stetson Athletics.
