Box Score Clearwater, Fla. – The SAU Softball team ended their time in Florida with a 3-2 record as a part of the NFCA Leadoff Classic after a 13-1 rout of fifth-ranked Saint Leo. The Muleriders, after dropping their first two games in Florida, won their final three games by a combined score of 22-1.
The Mulerider bats matched the Florida climate on this day, as the Muleriders collected 11 hits as seven of the nine Muleriders in the lineup tallied at least one hit and every Mulerider reached base at least once.
In the circle,
Victoria Taylor fended off the Lions, striking out seven batters over four innings of work. Taylor only allowed one hit, one run and two hit batters; she was relieved for the fifth and final inning by
Brooke Ford-Nelson, who went three up and three down, recording a strikeout along the way.
Scoring began in the top of the first when
Faith Otts homered in a pair of runs, scoring
Sarah Evans, who reached on a leadoff single. The Lions responded in the bottom of the first with a leadoff double resulting in their only run of the game.
After no scoring took place in the second inning, the Muleriders pushed across seven runs. Otts led off the inning with a leadoff single. Following a Lion pitching change, the next five Mulerider hitters reached base – a pitch hit
Laina Suesue;
Chelsea Fagan walked;
Elisa Favela and
Sarah Pitre singled; and a pitch hit
Ryah Kaniho–prompting another Lions pitching change.
Sarah Evans walked in another run,
Rachel Miller picked up an RBI on a fielder's choice, and Otts singled up the middle for the second time in the inning, scoring Evans and Miller.
Fagan led off the top of the fourth with a home run, her team-high fourth of the season.
Hallie Saintignan led off the fifth inning by striking out but reaching base on a passed ball; she then advanced to second on another passed ball and scored on an Evans single, who advanced to second on the play. Miller then singled in Evans, who also advanced to second on the play. She later scored due to a Fagan double.
The Muleriders are now 6-2 on the season. They play in the UAM Division II Softball Classic next weekend in Bentonville, where they will play a pair of doubleheaders against in-region competition.
