Myrtle Beach, S.C. – Down 3-1 with one out in the bottom of the seventh, the Millersville University freshman
Hunter Little crushed a walk-off grand slam to straight away center field which secured a 5-3 win for the Marauders over West Virginia State on Sunday morning at the Snow Bird Freeze-Off Tournament.
The Marauders finish their trip to Myrtle Beach with a 3-2 record while the Yellow Jackets dropped to 6-2.
The Marauders' seventh inning rally began with freshman
Alexis Staniec drawing a walk. After a fielder's choice recorded the first out, head coach
Jen Probst put in sophomore
Catherine Johnson to pinch hit for sophomore
Faith Willenbrock. Johnson singled to left field. Following the single, sophomore
Brianna Battavio was hit by a pitch, loading the bases. Little then cleared the bases with her first career grand slam.
"There were some questionable calls early in the game and every time we were in position to get ahead, we were faced with more adversity," said Probst. "Finally, things went our way and with the bases loaded Hunter crushed that grand slam dead center."
The Yellow Jackets took an early lead on home runs by Brittany Allison in the top of the second and fourth innings.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Marauders answered with their first run. Sophomore
Devan Masciulli had a RBI single, bringing home senior
Maggie Murphy from second. However, West Virginia State's third home run of the day came in the top of the sixth by Kasey Murphy, returning the lead to two.
Junior
Emma Bevard recorded her first complete game of the year, allowing six hits, three runs while strikout out three. Bevard improved her pitching record to 2-1.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Despite winning in the end, the Marauders had only four hits.
• Masciulli recorded the first stolen base of the year.
• Little went 1-for-3, drawing one walk. Blatt added a hit and run while Johnson and Masciulli had the other hits. Battavio drew two walks.
HEAD COACH JEN PROBST QUOTES
• "We checked off a lot of things we wanted to accomplish this weekend. We were competitive in every game. We hit the ball in the air far more than on the ground and we were able to get some balls out of the park all while continuing to bond as a team. We were also able to identify some areas we really need to work on to prepare for PSAC play."
• "Emma continues to hit her spots and mix speeds well."
• "Willenbrock had to leave the game after a hit by pitch so when she was up again, we needed a big time pinch hit. Cat stepped up and helped keep the rally going with a line drive to left field. It's great having a couple pitchers who can also swing the bat for us."
NOTES
• Johnson's seventh inning hit was her sixth hit of her collegiate career.
• Little's grand slam was her third home run of the season, which leads the conference. Little's slugging percentage (1.077) is also leading the conference. Little finished the tournament with seven RBIs.
• Bevard dropped her ERA to 1.91 while earning her 15th strikeout of the season.
UP NEXT
• Millersville is off until Saturday, Feb. 23 when the squad returns back to Seaber Softball Stadium for its home opener against Bowie State.
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