By: Samantha Witte, Staff Writer
Sunday, March 1, 2015- The Saint Leo Women’s softball team took the field at noon for the double header against Barry University Buccaneers. Saint Leo entered this game with a record of 13-2, with a winning streak of seven games prior to today’s outing. This was their first conference series of the season. Barry came in with a record of 12-5, and this series was their first round of the Sunshine State Conference play as well.
Game 1: Ashley Ehlers took her position on the mound for the Lions from the start, and was able to hold the Buccaneers scoreless through the first three innings.
At the plate, the Lions were able to put up two runs in the first two innings. One scored after McKenzie Burns walked in her first at bat. She was then able to steal second and advance to third on an overthrow. She was able to cross the plate after a sacrifice fly to center by Adriana Sanders.
The second run came across the plate in the bottom of the second for Leo. This time with Burns driving in the run with a single up the middle. She scored Angela Kalfalas, who reached base with a single and then a walk by Tori Thomas to move her into scoring position at second.
Then, in the fourth and fifth innings, the momentum took a shift in the wrong direction for the Lions’ players when Barry was able to put up five runs on the board. A pitching switch occurred in the fifth inning for an attempt to throw off the Barry hitters that were threatening to take the lead. The freshman Samantha Tyler came in to try to hold the runners from scoring. Unfortunately, the Barry offense had other plans. They were able to drive in four runs in the fifth, with one of them being a three-run homerun.
Both teams held each other scoreless throughout the sixth, and Barry was able to get one more on the board in the seventh. The Buccaneers came away with a 7-2 victory for the first game of the series, but the Lions’ walked away with determination and a strong hunger for the next game.
A few highlights of this game for Saint Leo were a few stellar diving catches in the field by Torrie Weindorf, Burns going 1-2 at the plate with both a run scored and an RBI, and Sanders with an RBI sac fly, also 1-2 at the plate.
Game 2: Alana Tabel took the mound for Saint Leo to begin the second game of the three game conference series.
The Barry offense was able to come out in the first and score two, but it came with an immediate, one run response from Saint Leo keeping the game at a tight match. It was Michelle George who crossed the plate after getting on base with a double in the right center gap. She was then able to advance to third on a wild pitch and score on a single up the middle by Adriana Sanders.
Both teams held each other scoreless for the next two innings. Then in the fourth inning, the Barry bats were able to get on a streak and score five more runs, making the score 6-2. The Lions were able to put up a one-run response in the bottom of the fifth with a solo homerun over the left field fence by freshman, Brittany Creamer. The Lions were not going to lay down without a fight.
The Saint Leo defense was able to stop the offensive rally by Barry and hold them scoreless from the fourth inning on, but the offense was just not able to produce the runs needed to overcome the defeat for the day. The final score of the game was 7-2. There is one more game left in the series for the Lions to come out and dominate on their home field.
Highlights from this game for the Lions include a first career homerun for Creamer, two double plays and an RBI for Sanders, and George went 2-3 at the plate.
Monday, March, 2015– The Lions were back on the field at 4pm to finish the last game of the conference series against Barry. They came out on a great evening with strong motivation to take away the win for the day.
Game 3: Samantha Tyler stepped into the pitcher’s circle to start off the last game of the three game series against Barry in hopes that this game has a much better outcome then the previous two.
The first inning began with Barry setting the bar by coming out and putting three up on the board right away, meaning the Lions started in a hole that they were going to need to dig out of with the pop of their bats. They gave a quick response to shorten the difference with a solo homerun by senior, Adriana Sanders in the bottom of the first.
Opportunity presented itself in the bottom of the fourth for the Lions. It started with a single down the right field line by Angela Kafalas, followed by a single by Tiffany Thompson, and a walk by Torrie Weindorf. Bases were loaded, but the Lions already had two outs and were not able to get anyone home.
Both teams were not able to get anyone across home until the top of the fifth inning when Barry was able to get two more runs to cross the plate with a double to right center to score the two runners on base.
Saint Leo was not able to respond with any more runs throughout the entirety of the game. After the fifth inning, Barry was not able to score any more as well. The final score of the game was 5-1, and the next step for the Lions is to regroup and refocus. They are a tough team that will go out and practice hard for the upcoming games.
They will look ahead to prepare for their next conference series against University of Tampa, beginning on Friday, March 6 at 6 pm. Come out to support your Saint Leo Women’s Softball team!
