Box Score (Game 1)
Box Score (Game 2)
MILWAUKEE, Wis. – When the Edgewood College softball team traveled to Alverno College they knew they needed to win or two to keep their hopes of making the conference tournament alive. The Eagles got a little more than they bargained for in game one as the Eagles won the 15 inning marathon 6-4 before taking the nightcap 8-3 for the sweep.
Pam Sommer leadoff the 15th inning and reached on an error by the left fielder. She advanced all the way to third base on the play. After a groundout, Emily Monson drove in Sommer with a single to left field to give the Eagles (14-20, 11-11 NAC) the lead. Karmen Dorshorst then sacrificed Monson to second and Jessica Spitzer tacked on an insurance run when she ripped a single to left field and Edgewood College took a 6-4 lead into the bottom of the 15th.
After pitcher Claire Blake got the first two batters of the 15th to fly out, the Inferno (13-25, 7-15 NAC) tallied back-to-back singles to put runners on first and second. However, Blake got the Inferno pitcher, Jessica Goetz, to line out to end the game and give the Eagles the win.
Edgewood College opened the scoring in the third inning when Rachel Elliott crushed a sacrifice fly to left field that scored Spitzer who singled earlier in the frame. Blake followed with single that scored Colleen Joyce to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead.
The Inferno answered in the bottom of the frame as Roxanne Kresmer started a two-out rally with a double down the left field line. Jamie Villalobos followed with a single that scored Kresmer to cut the deficit to one run.
Alverno took the lead in the fifth inning when they loaded the bases with one out on two consecutive singles and an error. Villalobos then hit a single to right field that scored two runs and gave the Inferno a 3-2 lead. Blake worked her way of the jam as she struck out the next batter and induced a fly out to end the inning.
It did not take the Eagles long to respond as they evened the score in the top of the sixth inning. Sommer started the inning as she got hit by a pitch, then stole second before being sacrificed to third by Monica Humphrey. Monson then hit a sacrifice fly to left field that scored Sommer to tie the game at three.
After Blake stranded two runners, including a leadoff double in the seventh inning to send the game to extra innings, the Eagles took the lead in the eighth. After a leadoff out, Sommer smoked a triple to right field and scored on an error by the third baseman to give the Eagles a 4-3 advantage. Humphrey then followed with a single before Kayla Rackow pinch ran for her. Rackow stole second and Monson walked before Dorshorst reached on a bunt single to load the bases with one out. However, Goetz struck out Spitzer and induced Joyce to fly out to end the threat.
Alverno used that momentum in the bottom half of the eighth as their leadoff hitter, Kayla Kennedy, singled and got sacrificed to second. Kennedy advanced to third on a base hit and scored on a sacrifice fly to even the score and send the game to the ninth inning.
The Eagles went down in order in the top half of the ninth and Inferno threatened to win the game in the bottom half. With one out, Kresmer reached on an error, and then after an out the Inferno got a walk and a single to load the bases with two outs. Blake then got the next batter to groundout and send the game to the 10th.
Edgewood College stranded a leadoff single in the 10th inning before both teams went down in order in the bottom of the 10th and top of the 11th. The Inferno stranded two runners in the 11th inning and the Eagles got a leadoff double from Blake in the 12th inning. However, Edgewood College could not score the run as Goetz got two pop outs and a strike out to end the frame.
Alverno would again strand two runners in the 13th before leaving one more on base in the 14th before the Eagles finally took the game in the 15th inning. The win is the Eagles' first extra-inning win this season. Earlier this season, the Eagles lost 12 inning and nine inning games to Marian University.
Dorshorst, Spitzer and Sommer paced the Eagle offense with three hits apiece while Monson drove in the game tying run in the sixth inning and game-winning run in the 15th inning. For the Inferno, Kresmer went 5-for-8 and Villalobos went 4-for-8 in the loss. Both teams only used one pitcher in the contest. Blake threw all 15 innings for the Eagles, struck out nine and walked only two while earning her 10th win of the season. Goetz went the distance for Alverno and recorded 15 strikeouts against only one walk. Edgewood College pounded out 17 hits and left 16 runners on base while the Inferno tallied 18 hits and left 18 runners on base.
The 15 inning marathon is the second longest game in Edgewood College history. The Eagles played a 16 inning game at Wisconsin Lutheran College in 2005. It is also the second longest game in Northern Athletics Conference history. The longest game in the NAC is also 16 innings and was played in 2007.
Game two started out as a pitcher's duel as Brittany Andrews got the start for the Eagles and the Inferno stayed with Goetz. The teams combined for only four hits over the first three innings before Alverno got on the board in the third inning. Kresmer hit a home run to left field and the Inferno took a 1-0 lead.
After recording just three hits in the first four innings, the Edgewood College offense woke up in the fifth inning. Rackow started the inning with a bunt single that was followed by a Monson single to left center. Then with one out, Spitzer gave the Eagles the lead when she laced a two-run double to left center, but was thrown out at third trying to stretch it into a triple. Joyce then sparked a two-out rally with a single and Sommer followed with a double, bringing Elliott to the plate. Elliott deposited Goetz's 1-0 offering over the left field fence to extend the Eagles' lead to 5-1. That bomb ended Goetz's day as the Inferno brought Villalobos in to pitch. She got the next batter to groundout to end the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Inferno ripped two doubles around a fly out as they chased Andrews. Blake then came into pitch and gave up a run scoring single and a sacrifice fly before striking out the final batter to end the inning and keep the Eagle lead at 5-3.
The Eagles then extended their lead in the seventh inning when they scored three runs. Spitzer singled and later scored on a wild pitch and Joyce scored on a sacrifice fly. Kristen Salvatore laced a single that scored Sommer and gave the Eagles an 8-3 lead. Salvatore's single was the 100th hit of her career.
The Inferno started the bottom of the seventh inning with a single, but Blake quickly erased it as she got the next batter to ground into a 4-6-3 double play. Blake then induced the next batter to pop out to give Edgewood College the 8-3 victory.
Monson led the Eagle offense with three hits as she went 3-for-4 with one run scored. Elliott went 2-for-4 with three runs batted in and one run scored. Spitzer went 2-for-4 and drove in two runs while scoring another and Rackow was the only other Eagle to record more than one hit as she went 2-for-4 with one run scored. Andrews went five and one-third innings and struck out two while earning her second win of the season. Blake finished the game for the Eagles and earned her third save of the season.
With those two wins Edgewood College can qualify for the six-team conference tournament with two wins at Rockford College on or one win and a Marian University loss to Alverno College. First pitch from Rockford on Sunday is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.
