RICHMOND, Ky. -- After being held off in the opening contest of a three-game series, Belmont Softball nearly defeated second-place Eastern Kentucky on the road. The Colonels (29-9, 13-2 OVC) won game one, 4-1, and used a walk-off double to snatch the nightcap from the Bruins (14-28, 7-9 OVC), 4-3.
Game One
The Colonels were the first to put a run on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first inning and kept BU silent for the next four innings. Finally, the Bruins used a solo home run by sophomore Jess Andree (Darien, Ill.), her third of the season, to finally get on the board in the top of the fifth inning.
Belmont threatened throughout the top of the sixth, quickly loading bases behind a Colonel fielding error, a single by freshman
Baylee Cook (Lewisburg, Tenn.) and a walk for junior
Shersty Stanton (Pinckneyville, Il.), despite an EKU pitching change. However, EKU managed to squeeze out a pair of Bruin scoring opportunities at the plate to keep the Bruins off the board. In the bottom of the sixth, the Colonels put two across to secure the 4-1 win.
Andree went 2-for-3 at the plate in game one. Freshman
Ashley Johnson (Kingwood, Texas) went the distance inside the circle for her second complete game of the season and finished with six strikeouts.
Game Two
After a quiet first inning that saw the Colonels go up, 1-0, it once again turned into the Jess Andree show. She smashed a two-run homer to put Belmont on top, 2-1, in the top of the second inning. BU dug in its heels and kept EKU off the board in the second and third innings.
In the top of the fourth, the Bruins added one more run, thanks to a single by redshirt sophomore Lexi Rouse (Macon, Ga.). Back-to-back groundouts moved Stanton, who pinch ran for Rouse, to third before another Andree hit sent her over the plate to expand Belmont's lead to 3-1.
EKU began to rally in the late innings, adding one run in each bottom of the fifth and sixth inning, the latter knotting the game, 3-3. A strong defensive effort kept the Bruins off the board in the top of the seventh and Belmont looked to be on the way to forcing extra innings in the bottom of the same. However, the Colonels had two players reach base before a shot up the middle scored the winning run and gave EKU the 4-3 win.
Andree went 2-for-3 at the plate once again. Inside the circle, seniors Carolyn Snodgress (Torrance, Calif.) and Shelby Willard (Chattanooga, Tenn.) split time, picking up two strikeouts.
Belmont returns to action on Sunday for the finale of the three-game series at Eastern Kentucky. First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m. CT. Live stats will be available.
