Anderson, IN - Centre Softball continued its first road trip of the season on Wednesday with a trip to Indiana to take on Anderson University. The Colonels came away with a split on the day.
Game 1: Anderson 7, Centre 6
Anderson jumped out to an early lead on starter,
Ashley Howard, as the Ravens scored two runs in the bottom of the 1st on consecutive ground outs to take the early lead. The lead held until the bottom of the 3rd when the Ravens added more.
Sophia Lay came on in relief of Howard to start the inning and quickly found trouble. The Ravens started with a walk, double, sac fly, and another double to quickly score 2 and double their lead to 4. The Ravens added 3 more in the inning to take a 7-0 lead after 3.
Centre began to mount a rally in the 4th. With 2 outs,
Emily Lammers launched a missile over the fence in left center for a solo homer to get the Colonels on the board. Centre kept the charge on in the top of the 5th.
Sarah Bradley started the inning with a single, stole second and went to third on a sacrifice bunt.
Brinley Muller then slapped a single to short to bring Bradley home and cut the margin to 7-2.
Baylee Estes dropped a bunt single to put two runners on.
Rylee Sandifer then laced a two-run triple to right field to bring Muller and Estes home and cut Anderson's lead to 7-4. A safety squeeze from
Layne Ogle then followed as Sandifer scored to make it a 7-5 game.
Emily Lammers then followed with her 2nd blast of the game. The solo homer cut the Ravens' lead to 7-6 heading to the 6th.
The Colonels trailed going to the 7th but got the inning off to a promising start with a
Baylee Estes single to center. Anderson then caught a break as a fly ball to right was fielded and Estes was doubled off trying to get back to 1st.
Layne Ogle followed with a pop up to end Centre's bid for the comeback.
Game 2: Centre 8, Anderson 6
Centre got off to a nice start in the second game of the day. The Colonels put a run up in the top of the 1st on a
Layne Ogle single that scored
Baylee Estes. Anderson responded with 3 runs in the bottom of the inning off starter,
Kennedy Caudill to take another early lead.
Centre came fighting right back in the top of the 2nd. Caudill helped her own cause with a leadoff single. Two batters later, Caudill went to third on a
Jada Challiss double. An RBI groundout from
Baylee Estes and single from
Brinley Muller scored both runs to tie the game at 3. Caudill retired the Raven side in order in the bottom of the inning to send the game to the 3rd.
In the top of the inning,
Layne Ogle reached on an error and would score on a
Morgan Tabor double to left to put the Colonels up, 4-3. Caudill then smashed a double to left, sending Tabor home for a 5-3 lead. Centre had a chance for more but would leave 2 runners on to end the top half. Anderson got a run back in the bottom of the inning for a 5-4 Centre lead heading to the 4th.
The Colonels went down in order in the top of the 4th. Anderson would re-assume the lead on a 2-out, 2-run single for a 6-5 Ravens lead after 4. Centre had the answer in the top of 5.
Layne Ogle led off with a single and moved to 2nd on a passed ball. Two batters later,
Kennedy Caudill lofted a fly ball to center that was deep enough to score Ogle from 3rd and tie the game at 6.
Centre took the lead for good in the top of the 6th.
Jada Challiss led off with a sharp double to center. She moved to 3rd on a ground out from
Baylee Estes.
Brinley Muller followed with a tapper to the mound that was misplayed by the Anderson pitcher, thus allowing Challiss to score to give the Colonels a 7-6 lead. Centre added 1 more in the top of the 7th, while
Kennedy Caudill retired the last six Ravens in a row to preserve the win. Caudill improved to 3-1 on the season with the win, while going 3-3 at the plate with 2 RBI.
Centre stays in Indiana for a doubleheader at Earlham College on Thursday starting at 3:00pm.
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