By: William Burns
The Saint Leo Softball team had their first home game of the season on Feb. 22. The Lions had previously played fourteen games and had a record of seven wins and seven losses going into the night’s matchup. Being only .500, the softball team had energy as they had their home opener, the first of a three-game series, versus Rollins.
Pitcher Auria Mounts threw a majority of the game for the team, pitching four scoreless innings before giving up a run in the fifth and sixth innings. The offense was energized by Mounts’ effort after a scoreless top of the first and were quick to put up a crooked number in their slot on the scoreboard. Macie Kelly and Ashley Morris singled for the Lions before Shyanne DuBois drew a walk to get the bases loaded with no outs in the bottom of the first inning. However, a force out at home and a strikeout soon took the wind out of the sails as Saint Leo looked like they were about to waste this bases-loaded opportunity.
Freshman Kayleice Hooks had other ideas though. She produced an infield single to score the first run of the game with two outs and kept the bases loaded. Then Alexis Minet drew a walk to score yet another run for the Lions. After scoring two runs in the first inning, a Strikeout ended the offensive effort, and Mounts came back in to stifle Rollins yet again. Mounts let a few baserunners get on but produced a ground ball to the shortstop which was easily handled for the double play to get out of the inning with no harm done.
The bottom of the second inning was not as good as the first for Saint Leo, and three quick groundouts soon had their defense back in the game. The Lions defense stayed strong and didn’t allow Rollins to score in the top of third either. In the bottom of the third, Saint Leo got the offense going again as Dubois hit a single and advanced to second on an error. Sarah Pauscher then singled giving Leo baserunners at first and third. A fielder’s choice soon allowed Dubois to score, and the inning ended Lions 3, Rollins 0.
After a scoreless fourth inning, both teams tacked on one run in the fifth, and Rollins added another in the sixth for a final score of 4-2 in favor of the Lions. The Lions offense was led by DuBois, who went 2-for-2 with a walk and three runs scored and Hooks, who went 2-for-3 with 2 RBI’s. Saint Leo went on to finish the three-game series on Saturday, Feb. 23 but lost both games.
