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FORT MEYERS, Fla. – Monday was an incredibly busy day for the Kenyon College softball team which provided ups and downs. Kenyon rescheduled its rained out contest against Edgewood College to create an unconventional tripleheader, which the Ladies ended with a comeback win over the Eagles, 8-5. Kenyon lost their first two games to Olivet College and the University of Pittsburgh-Bradford, bringing their record to 11-3 overall heading. They will wrap up their stay at the Gene Cusic Classic on Tuesday afternoon.
The Ladies saved their best for last when they came from four runs down to overcome Edgewood by scoring seven unanswered runs over the last four innings. The Ladies' troubles followed them into the start of game three when the contest began with an error in the field and worsened with a two-RBI double by Alyssa Schulting. She eventually came around to score when a passed ball resulted in two runs following some aggressive base running by the Eagles.
Kenyon turned it around in large part to Molly O'Connor, who accounted for three runs batted in. She plated Kenyon's first run in the second inning via a sacrifice fly but did more damage in the fifth inning.
After Kenyon chipped further into the Eagles' lead in the fourth with run-scoring hits by Maddy Stark and Hayley Howard, the Ladies retook the lead in the sixth with a three-run frame. With runners on second and third, O'Connor hit a single through the middle of the infield. On the throw to the plate, O'Connor sprinted to second base, but the throw back to second base was launched into center field and went all the way to the wall. O'Connor turned on the jets and motored around the diamond to score on the play, giving Kenyon a 6-5 lead.
The Ladies added one more run in both the sixth and seventh innings by way of RBI base hits from Toni Miller and Liz Paterra.
Sylvia Thomas had a remarkable game after being called upon to calm the storm the Eagles created in the first inning. After Edgewood scored three runs and with no outs recorded, Thomas entered and got the Ladies out of a jam by retiring the next three hitters in a row. Over seven innings, she allowed six hits and only one run. She struck out three Eagles' hitters and earned her sixth win of the season.
Howard led the Ladies with three hits against Edgewood, while knocking in one run. Miller went 2-for-4 with one RBI and two runs scored.
Kenyon was not as successful in each of their preceding games against Olivet (6-0) and Pitt.-Bradford. Ashley Grubb of Olivet held the Ladies to just one hit while striking out 13. In the meantime, the Comets' top of the lineup went a combined 6-for-12 and scored five of their six runs. The bottom of the order drove them in, stemming from two-RBI games from Lauren Lenard and Jessica Palumbo.
Against the Panthers, Kenyon had the tying run in scoring position and the bases loaded with one out in the top of the seventh, but were unable to bring any around to score. With the score 3-1, Chelsea Delaney put forth her third hit of the game to get the inning started. An error on an attempted double play turn and a hit batsman loaded the bags up but O'Connor and Howard went down to end the game. Kenyon's lone run came when Miller hit a sacrifice fly to right, tying the game in the fourth.
The Panthers (2-2) took advantage of a miscue in right when a single turned into two bases when Amber Fox's run-scoring hit bounced in and out of Danielle Elizarraraz's glove, giving the speedster enough time to slide into second. Sydney Mosby drove her home two batters later with a single, accounting for the third run.
Kenyon will wrap up play at the Gene Cusic Classic with one last doubleheader versus New Jersey City University and Wartburg College. They open with the Gothic Knights of NJCU at 1 p.m. from the Lee County Sports Complex.
