PISCATAWAY, New Jersey — After suffering a huge defeat in game one of their doubleheader with the Rutgers University Scarlet Knights, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore rallied back in the second contest to win and split with their Big Ten opponent on Thursday (March 17). Eastern Shore fell 16-0 in game one and won game two 4-3.
"We played Hawk softball in the second game and stuck to our game plan, played flawless and used timely hitting with adjustments to come away with a big win," head coach Karla Powell said.
In game one, the team was a victim of o no-hitter thrown by Rutgers' Jaden Vickers. The Hawks did draw four walks in that game with sophomores Julia Garcia and Tatum Kresley each drawing one apiece, and their classmate Kelsie Ekstrom drew two.
The second game was following much of the same script through five innings. The Scarlet Knights led 2-0 heading into the sixth inning and Eastern Shore was still looking for their first hit of the day.
Kresley got the team's first hit on a bent single with one out in the top of the sixth. Following a sacrifice bunt by freshman Nola Mountain that advanced Kresley to second, Garcia crushed a homer to left field to tie the game at two.
Rutgers took the lead right back in the bottom of the frame. After playing small ball to get runners on second and third, the Scarlet Knight took a 3-2 lead following a wild pitch and were three outs away from a victory as the game went into the seventh inning.
Freshman Kylee Lehman led the inning off and reached on an error. Graduate student Kaylyn Sterling singled after that to put runners on first and second.
Freshman McKenzie Abiley laid down a sacrifice bunt after that to advance the runners on the next at-bat. Ekstrom came up next and singled to left field to score Lehman and tie the game at three.
Following a strikeout, The Shore was down to the final out of the frame as Kresley came up to bat. She delivered a RBI single to score Sterling and give the team a 4-3 lead. Sophomore Ameenah Ballenger would then go inside the circle and lead a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the frame to finish the team's comeback.
"This wasn't just a win on the field, it was a win for (the players) as individuals," Powell said. "They saw they have the ability to fight back against adversity and understand they belong at this level."
Maryland Eastern Shore will now open their MEAC slate of games this weekend with a series against Delaware State. The two teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday (March 19) beginning at 1 p.m. and one single game on Sunday at noon.
