CLEVELAND, Tenn. -The Lee University softball team earned a double header split with Mississippi College on Friday evening at Butler Field. The Lady Flames won game one 6-5 behind three home runs from Laney Harris, Alexa Scalzo, and Rylie Goodridge. MC used a six run comeback to take game two 8-6.
GAME 1
MC led the game off with a walk from Brooke Fagan, McCall Lee was then walked to put two runners on base. Jenna Ergle hit a single to right field and that scored Fagan to give MC the 1-0 lead. The next batter Jordan Moore grounded out to the pitcher, and they threw out Lee trying to score. The Lady Flames took the lead in the bottom half of the first inning. Ana Macha led it off with an infield single. Annalyn Ormsby then completed a sacrifice bunt to advance Macha to second base. Alexa Scalzo then stepped up and hit a two-run home run to give Lee a 2-1 lead.
Mississippi College had two hits in the second, but the Lady Flames turned another double play to end the threat when Javaria Smith made a catch in right field and then threw the batter out at second base. MC had one base runner in the third via a walk but left the runner on base. In the bottom of the third, Macha and Ormsby got on with a walk and a single respectively, but Lee could not bring them home.
The Lady Flames extended the lead in the bottom of the fourth. With two outs, Alesandra Razo was walked. Laney Harris then followed that up with a two-run home run to give Lee a 4-1 lead.
MC struck right back in the top of the fifth inning with a two-run home run from Brooke Fagan. Then in the bottom of the fifth, Macha singled to lead the inning off.an fly out from Ormsby and a sacrifice bunt from Scalzo got Macha to third. Sidney Lee then singled to score Macha and gave Lee a 5-3 lead.
Rylie Goodridge led off the bottom of the sixth with a solo home run to give Lee a 6-3 lead. The Lady Flames had two more base runners in the sixth but couldn't bring another run across home plate. Mississippi College used three hits in the top of the seventh to score a couple of runs. Jaycee Dill reached safely on an error which allowed Emily Rigney to score. Then McCall Lee brought home Dill for the fifth and final run for the Lady Choctaws.
Natalie Pruitt earned her first win of the season has she went six innings and gave up three runs on five hits. Madison Barnett had the save giving up two runs on three hits and had two strikeouts. Macha was three-for-three from the plate with two runs scored and a walk. Scalzo and Harris each had two RBI.
GAME 2
The Lady Flames struck quickly in the bottom of the first as Macha got it started with a single, Ormsby then singled to get two runners on base. Scalzo doubled to bring Macha home. Later in the inning, Alesandro Razo smoked a single up the middle and that allowed two runs to come home and gave Lee a 3-0 lead after one inning of play.
Macha got on base safely again in the second inning with another single. Ormsby then hit a double to the left center fence to bring Macha home. Sidney Lee followed that up with a two-run home run to make it 6-0 in favor of the Lady Flames. It was the sixth home run of the season for Lee.
Mississippi College got on the board with three runs on four hits and one error in the top of the fourth. Fagan and Lee had singles and then Jenna Ergle doubled to bring both runners home. Ergle then scored on a Lee error and cut the lead to 6-3. In the top of the fifth, MC tied the game as Fagan hit a three run home run to score Alexis Laughlin and Dill. MC took the lead for the first time in the top of the seventh as they had two runs on one hit and an error. Jordan Moore hit the game winning triple for the Lady Choctaws.
Madison Barnett went the complete game and gave up eight runs with only four being earned runs. And she had five strikeouts. Macha was three-for-four with two runs scored. Lee was also three-for-four with two runs batted in and a run scored.
Head Coach Emily Russell was pleased with the win in the first game. "Natalie found herself in the circle today and didn't allow anything to distract. We started game two well but couldn't quite finish it. Maybe we aren't playing comfortably quite yet but we are playing much better softball. We just need to keep our foot on the gas pedal."
Lee will host Mississippi College in the rubber match on Saturday, March 25 at 1 PM at Butler Field.
