DeLand, Fla. ? Freshman second baseman Heather Barnes (Avon Park, Fla.) delivered a two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to lead the Stetson softball team (14-13) to a 3-1 win over Long Island University (7-12) in the nightcap of the Stetson Hatter Roundup mini-tournament Tuesday at Patricia Wilson Field. It was the first career home run for Barnes. Stetson has won seven of its last eight games but had its six-game win streak snapped in a 1-0 loss to Iowa earlier today.
The Hatters took a 1-0 lead against the Blackbirds in the bottom of the first when redshirt freshman Carolyn Boyd (Germantown, Tenn.) delivered an RBI single through the right side of the infield to score junior center fielder Amy Joyce (Lake Mary, Fla.). LIU equalized the score in the top of the third when junior pitcher Amanda Lindsey (Byhalia, Miss.) uncorked a wild pitch that brought left fielder Ashley Martinson home from third base with an unearned run.
The game remained deadlocked into the seventh inning as Lindsey and LIU hurler Jenny Giles, the 2007 and 2008 Northeast Conference Pitcher of the Year, matched zeroes on the scoreboard. Freshman shortstop Chelsey Trotto (Lantana, Fla.) led off the bottom of the seventh with a perfectly blooped single behind the pitcher's circle and was bunted over to second by freshman left fielder Brittany Knipp (Land O'Lakes, Fla.). Barnes, who had flied out to deep left field in her previous at-bat, stepped to the plate and knocked an 0-1 pitch from Giles in that direction as well ? this one getting up over the wall and winning the game. Barnes was mobbed at home plate by her teammates in a raucous celebration.
Lindsey went the distance to earn her eighth win of the year, giving up a single unearned run on six hits and a walk with eight strikeouts. Giles allowed three runs on five hits and three walks in six and a third frames. She fanned seven. Martinson and first baseman Stephanie Savre had two hits each for the Blackbirds.
Earlier in the day against Iowa, ranked 23rd in today's UltimateCollegeSoftball.com poll, the Hatters could manage just one base hit, a Joyce bunt single, against Iowa righthander Amanda Zust in a 1-0 loss. Iowa scored its only run in the top of the first on a Stetson error. Zust issued just two walks, both to senior first baseman Andrea Migliori (Winter Garden, Fla.), and notched 10 strikeouts to improve to 10-1 on the season.
Senior righty Erica Demers (Miami, Fla.) suffered yet another hard-luck loss, allowing four hits, no earned runs and no walks in seven innings with six strikeouts. Demers is now 6-7 on the season despite a sterling 1.12 ERA.
Iowa defeated LIU 6-3 in the first game of the Roundup, rallying from a 3-0 deficit on the strength of a Colleen McGlaughlin grand slam in the fifth inning. Zust was the winning pitcher in that game as well. Shortstop Bianca Mejia led off the game with a home run for LIU.
The Hatters host Houston Baptist in a doubleheader at 5 p.m. Thursday at Patricia Wilson Field. Jamie Bataille, the Voice of Hatter Fastpitch, calls all the balls and strikes online at www.GoHatters.com, the official online home of Stetson Athletics. Live Stats are also available.
