Danville, KY - Centre Softball came into Saturday off 2 thrilling wins on Opening Day a week ago. The Colonels found themselves in the midst of two more exciting games on Saturday as they split the day with Asbury and Olivet. Here's how the day played out:
Game 1 vs Asbury: Loss 7-6 (9 innings)
Sophia Lay started in the circle for the Colonels, marking her first collegiate start after making a bullpen appearance last week against Kenyon. Asbury got to Lay in the first with a walk, double and sac fly to grab an early 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the inning, freshman
Brinley Muller slapped a ball down the left field line and sped around the bases to third with a triple.
Layne Ogle followed with a tapper to 3rd that easily brought Muller home as the Colonels tied the game after 1.
The game then turned into a pitching duel. Asbury's next threat against Lay came in the top of the 4th. The Eagles put runners on 1st & 2nd, but Lay was able to work her way out of the jam to keep the game tied. Asbury threatened again in the 6th by loading the bases with only one out. Lay dug deep was able to induce consecutive fly outs to right to strand all three runners and keep the game squared at 1. Centre's offense finally got going in the bottom of the inning.
Aubrey Houston came on as a pinch-hitter and would ultimately score on a single from
Morgan Tabor to put Centre ahead, 2-1, heading to the 7th. With 1 out in the top of the 7th, Asbury got to Lay via a triple to right center. A sacrifice fly followed to knot the game at 2. Centre went down in order to send the game to extra innings.
Asbury started the 8th inning with an immediate 2-run homer for a 4-2 lead. The Eagles would load the bases again but Lay was able to get the third out on strikes to limit the damage and give the Colonels a shot in the bottom of the inning. With Riley Sandifer on 2nd to start the inning,
Brinley Muller drew a leadoff walk. The pair moved up 60 feet on a passed ball. Houston then stepped up with a sac fly to score Sandifer and move Muller to 3rd.
Emily Lammers then grounded to 3rd. The throw to first was in time but Muller easily beat the ensuing throw home to tie the game again at 4 after 8. Asbury got to Lay in the top of the 9th for 3 runs to assume a 7-4 lead. In the bottom of the 9th,
Anna Huber drew a pinch-hit walk to start with
Madalyn Irwin pinch-running at 2nd.
Rylee Sandifer then singled to left to load the bases with 1 out. Muller singled to score Irwin and after another Houston sac fly, the Colonels were only down 7-6 with 2 out.
Emily Lammers drew a walk to load the bases.
Morgan Tabor followed and lofted a ball to center field that proved routine as Asbury closed out the win.
Sophia Lay wound up taking the loss as she tossed a complete game on a herculean 180 pitches. She struck out 6 while giving up 7 runs (5 earned).
Game 2Â vs Olivet: Win 12-9
Madison Mullender got the ball for the Colonels in the second game of the day against the Olivet Comets in what proved to be another wild game. The Comets got 2 unearned runs in the top of the first to grab the early lead. Centre got one back in the bottom of the inning thanks to a
Layne Ogle sac fly that scored
Rylee Sandifer.
Olivet got another unearned run in the top of the 2nd for a 3-1 lead. Centre then put the bats back to work. With
Cheney Floyd at 2nd,
Jada Challiss singled to put runners at the corners.
Rylee Sandifer then laced a single to left that brought Floyd in and Challiss all the way around to tie the game at 3.
Brinley Muller then reached on the first of 6 Olivet errors as Sandifer scored to give the Colonels the lead. Muller raced home on an ensuing
Layne Ogle single to cap a 4-run inning and give Centre a 5-3 lead heading to the 3rd.
The lead would be short lived as walks began to haunt Mullender in the third and would ultimately end her day in the circle. Four walks and 2 runs scored forced a change as
Kennedy Caudill was called out of the pen. Caudill gave up a single to the first batter she faced that scored two as Olivet took a 7-5 lead. The next batter grounded to first but a collision at the bag allowed 2 more runs to score as Olivet scored 6 runs in the inning on just 2 hits to take a 9-5 lead. Caudill would settle in as the hit to her first opponent would be the final of the day for the Comets.
Centre trailed 9-6 entering the bottom of the 5th and found a rally.
Jada Challiss started with a 1-out infield single.
Rylee Sandifer then reached via an error. The pair moved to 2nd and 3rd on a wild pitch.
Brinley Muller followed with an infield single to load the bases. Ogle wasted little time as she smashed a liner to the left center wall, bringing all 3 runs in to level the game at 9. Two batters later,
Morgan Tabor singled to center. The throw into the plate got away as Ogle scampered home to give Centre the lead, 10-9 after 5.
The Colonels added 2 more for good measure in the 6th. Another Comet error loaded the bases for the Colonels. Ogle drew a walk to force
Madalyn Irwin home for an 11-9 lead.
Morgan Tabor then singled off the 3rd baseman's glove to score Sandifer. Caudill came back out for the top of the 7th and slammed the door with a fly out and 2 strikeouts to lock up a 12-9 win and improve Centre's record to 3-1.
Layne Ogle finished the game 2-3 with 6 RBI.
Kennedy Caudill got the win by finishing the final 4.1 innings, allowing 1 run on 1 hit while striking out 7.
The Colonels are back in action on Sunday in another doubleheader. Centre takes on Olivet at Noon and Asbury at approximately 2:00pm.
