SALISBURY, Maryland — Coming into the weekend, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore softball team had three wins. After getting a 5-4 walk-off win on Sunday (March 20) against the Delaware State University Hornets, the Hawks completed the series sweep and doubled their win total from two days ago.
Sunday's win was the first time the Hawks have swept the Hornets. It was also the first time the team has had a winning streak of at least four games since 2017.
"This is a great feeling for the fact that this program is starting to make some big turns," head coach Karla Powell said. "The girls are really pulling together and buying into the system. A lot of that comes from our tough preseason and them seeing what they can do against those teams is now preparing us for the conference season."
After a scoreless first inning, Eastern Shore got two runs in the second. The Hawks loaded the bases with their first three batters as freshman Kylee Lehman came to bat. She grounded out to second base as sophomore Ameenah Ballenger scored the first run of the game.
Three batters later, the bases were loaded again and this time sophomore Tatum Kresley was at the plate. She was hit by a pitch and picked up a painful RBI as her classmate Kelsie Ekstrom came across home plate.
In the fourth inning, The Shore would get two more runs. Freshman Rebecca Miller and Lehman drew consecutive walks to begin the frame. Freshman McKenzie Abiley singled to right center after that to put runners on each base.
Sophomore Ah-Nayia Oglesby was the next batter up for the Hawks. She hit a ground ball to first base and the Hornets chose to try to stop Miller from scoring. Miller beat out the throw and the team went up 3-0. Kresley would hit a sacrifice fly to center field on the squad's next at-bat to score Lehman and Eastern Shore led 4-0.
They kept that lead until the sixth inning. Junior Saje Kurpiela had allowed just two hits through five innings, but the DSU offense woke up. They got a solo homer from Jaelyn Baker and a three-run shot from Alexis Roberson to tie the score at four. Kurpiela would get out of the inning to complete her day inside the circle with six innings pitched and six strikeouts.
Graduate student Nasya Goodman came in to start the seventh inning in relief. She walked the first batter she faced, but responded and got three straight outs to send the game into the bottom of the seventh.
Ekstrom stepped into the batter's box with one out in the inning. She crushed a ground rule double to right center to place the winning run in scoring position.
Miller would follow her and work the count before she hit a single into left center. As Ekstrom rounded third, Delaware State was getting the ball back in the infield. She continued towards home and the Hornets cutoff man did not rally the ball into home plate and Ekstrom slid in for the winning run.
"I told the girls to have a plan at the plate (before the seventh inning). I'm not a big home hitting kind of coach, I prefer them to get base hits and that's what both girls did," Powell said. "Kelsie had a nice hard hit to right field and Becca just poked it into left field, so we don't need the long ball, we just have to get the ball through the infield."
Miller, Ekstrom, Abiley and Kresley all had two hits apiece. Kresley also had two RBIs and a stolen base.
Maryland Eastern Shore will now face Pennsylvania on Wednesday (March 23) for a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m. in Philadelphia.
