FORT MYERS, Fla. – Edgewood College wrapped up the 2016 Gene Cusic Classic with a pair of huge wins, including a thrilling 9-8 win in extra innings against Nichols College at CenturyLink Sports Complex Wednesday morning. The Eagles opened the day with a come-from-behind win over Minnesota-Morris before the thrilling victory in extra frames to improve to 6-8 overall and 4-6 at the Classic.
The Eagles got behind 3-0 against Minnesota-Morris but didn't fold, posting eight runs over their final two trips to the plate. The Eagles finally got their offense rolling in the third after leadoff batter Jackie Diesch singled in Sabrina Luedtke and later scored on an error to pull within one.
The floodgates opened up in the bottom of the fifth by sending ten batters to the plate. The Eagles posted four hits in the inning, most notably from Jordan Anderson's two-RBI single through the left side and Rachel DeJongh's base knock to center that pushed across Sydney Cramer. By the end of the marathon inning the Eagles had built a 7-3 lead.
Edgewood College added three more in the next inning and DeJongh pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning to close things out. She threw a complete game and allowed just one earned run on five hits. Kylie Clark was one of three Eagle batter with multiple hits after going 3-for-4 with two runs scored while Jordan Anderson was 2-for-4 with four RBIs. Diesch was 2-for-3 with an RBI and three runs.
Both teams were quiet offensively through the first three innings in the Florida Trip finale against Nichols College. Edgewood College then replicated the big inning they had in the previous game by scoring five in the fourth to knock Nichols starting pitcher Meghan Sears out of the game. Shannon Whitmus, Alyssa Hickey and Cramer had back-to-back-to-back RBIs to get on the board while Diesch and Clark also knocked in runs later on in the frame.
Hickey extend Edgewood College's lead to six runs with an RBI single in the top of the fifth, but Nichols would begin its climb in the next half inning. They scored seven runs over the next two innings to go up 7-6 heading into the seventh inning with the game on the line for the Eagles.
After a flyout, DeJongh began the rally with a single to left. After a groundout moved her to second, Hickey punched one through the middle for a single that brought Cramer up to the plate with runners on the corners. She also single to bring in DeJongh while Diesch delivered with a double down the left field line to grab the lead yet again. Nichols pitcher Kendall Meehan then induced a groundout to keep it to a one-run game.
Nichols evened things up after a runner stole third and advance home on a throwing error. The tie game wouldn't last long. Playing under international tiebreaker rules, Clark was placed on second to begin the eighth inning. Sabrina Maicke executed a sac bunt perfectly to push Clark to third to bring up Jordan Anderson. She took an 0-1 offering and sent it through the left side to score Clark for the 9-8 lead. Meehan got the next two batters out to head to the bottom half of the inning.
Nichols led off their inning with a sac bunt that moved a runner to third. DeJongh, who relieved Whitmus in the sixth, induced a grounder to second baseman Alyssa Hickey. Clark then closed things out by making a leaping grab at shortstop off the bat of pinch hitter Zoe Chevrette.
Cramer wound up 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs while Hickey and Diesch joined her with multiple RBIs. Jordan Anderson had another three-hit game while DeJongh picked up her second win of the day after throwing 2.1 innings of hitless ball.
The Eagles are now off until Saturday, April 2, when they host Lakeland College to begin league play. The doubleheader will begin at 12 pm at Ceniti Park in Verona, Wis.
