WASHINGTON, D.C. — After dropping game one of their Saturday doubleheader (April 23) with the Howard University Bison, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore softball responded in the second game of the day to grab a win.
HU won game one 5-4. The Hawks were victorious in game two 9-5. Eastern Shore's win in game two ended a six-game losing streak for the team.
"This win felt great! We have been having one bad inning each game and today we played a complete game on both sides," head coach Karla Ross said. "We needed this win and need to keep this momentum into the rest of the season."
In game one, both teams scored two runs in the opening inning. Sophomore Kelsie Ekstrom hit an RBI groundout to second base to score her classmate Tatum Kresley for the first run. Graduate student Nasya Goodman drove in sophomore Julia Garcia for the second run with a single to left center.
One inning later, Kresley drove in a run when she singled to bring graduate student Kaylyn Sterling across home plate. The team was up 3-2 after that frame, but Howard would get runs in the third and fourth to go ahead 4-3 entering the fifth inning.
Garcia would tie the score at four in the fifth when she crushed her fifth home run of the season inside the left field pole. The Bison took the lead back in the bottom of that frame. Eastern Shore would get multiple runners on base in the sixth and seventh inning, but could not tie the score.
Kresley, Sterling and Garcia each had two hits in game one. Goodman went 1-2 with a walk and RBI and threw 3.2 innings inside the circle and allowed just one earned run.
The Shore scored in the first inning again in game two. Ekstrom scored off a single by Goodman to put the first run on the board. Howard tied the game at one in the second before the Hawks would have an offensive explosion in the third.
Kresley got an infield single to begin the frame. She would then steal second base to get into scoring position. Three pitches later, she stole third base for her 29th of the year and moved herself into first place in the school's record book for stolen bases in a season.
"Tatum has been playing amazing softball all season and I knew she was going to do big things when she came into this program," Ross said. "When she gets on base, our team makes things happen and the results play in our favor. We preach to her to play her game and great things will happen."
Goodman was hit by a pitch following the record breaking moment from Kresley. Sophomore Ryan Merriwether then hit a double into the left field corner to score two runs. She would score following a throwing error on the Bison to put the team up 4-1.
The rally continued as freshman Rebecca Miller tripled to right field and freshman McKenzie Abiley would score on the play. Abiley's run was the fourth of the inning for the Hawks and all of them came with two outs. The Shore led 5-2 after three innings of play.
Ekstrom would get her second RBI groundout of the day in the fourth inning to Kresley and put the team up 6-2. Maryland Eastern Shore would hold that lead until the sixth inning.
In the sixth inning, the Hawks got four straight singles to start in the frame. Sophomore Ah-Nayia Oglesby led off the inning and would eventually score off an error by HU. The team's first out came off a sacrifice fly by Goodman to score Ekstrom, who already had an RBI single of her own that Kresley scored off of.
Howard put together a rally in the seventh and scored three runs. They would load the bases after that, but they could not capitalize as the Hawks secured the victory.
Kresley had one of her best games of the season in game two as she went 3-4 with a walk and three runs. She also had a season-high five stolen bases. Ekstrom had two hits, two runs and two RBI. Garcia and Miller also had two hits as well.
Sophomore Ameenah Ballenger threw her third complete game of the season in game two. She led a stretch from the third inning to sixth where the Hawks retired 11 straight Howard batters.
The two teams will finish their series tomorrow (April 24) as they play one game beginning at noon.
