YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. - The Anderson softball team fell victim to a pair of late-inning rallies, as the Trojans dropped both ends of a twin bill, 4-3 and 4-2, to Young Harris in nonconference action Sunday afternoon at E.D. Rivers Field.
Anderson, which was playing its sixth game in three days, slipped to 15-5 on the season, while Young Harris improved to 13-5 with its sixth straight win.
Game #1
Young Harris 4, Anderson 3
Senior third baseman Bri Cason was 2-for-4 in the opener, with a
two-run homer in the seventh inning, while fellow senior Rebecca
Martin added a pair of singles in three trips to the plate.
Freshman Carli Hurtado was also 2-for-3 on the day, with two
singles.
Sophomore Augie Pena (6-1) suffered her first loss of the season, while allowing four earned runs off eight hits. The right-hander struck out five Mountain Lions and issued two walks.
The Trojans took a quick 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, when senior Jessica Neidigh beat out an infield single, stole second and moved to third when junior Molly Child grounded out to first base. She crossed the plate when freshman Cailah Niles bounced out to short.
Young Harris answered quickly in the bottom of the frame, evening the score at 1-1 on junior Sarah Magill's two-out solo home run.
Magill homered again in the fourth inning to give the Mountain Lions a 2-1 advantage and neither team managed to push another run across the plate until the seventh inning.
Niles went the opposite way for a single to right field with one
out, and Trudi Shuman, who was pinch-running for Niles, scored when
Cason slammed her fourth homer of the campaign with two outs to
give Anderson a 3-2 edge. But Young Harris answered again,
countering with two runs with two outs in the bottom of the inning
for the come-from-behind victory.
Game #2
Young Harris 4, Anderson 2 (8 innings)
Freshman Chelsea Jones was 2-for-3 in the nightcap, with a single
and blasted her first collegiate home run in the second inning.
Freshman Rachel Barefield added a pair of singles, with Child
notching a solo home run in the sixth inning. Neidigh reached base
twice after being hit by a pitch in both the third and seventh
frames.
Sophomore Lauren Rudesheim (6-3) absorbed the loss after surrendering four runs (three earned) over seven full innings. She struck out two and walked one.
Jones' first career home run in the second inning gave AU a 1-0 lead, with the Mountain Lions countering with a run of their own in the bottom of the third frame to knot the score at 1-1.
Young Harris took a 2-1 lead with another run in the bottom of the fourth inning, while Child's second homer of the season to lead off the sixth inning evened the score at two apiece.
With neither team able to push across a run in the seventh inning, the contest went to an extra frame, with Young Harris' Chandler Stooksbury posting a game-winning home run over the left-field fence.
The Trojans are slated to return to the diamond on Tuesday, as
archrival Erskine invades Smethers Field for a nonconference
showdown. First-pitch is set for 4 p.m.