ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. – Spalding softball was on the road to compete in the Pioneer Classic over the weekend. Spalding grabbed wins over Anderson (twice), Adrian, and Defiance.
SU moved to an overall record of 5-9 after the weekend.
GAME ONE - SPALDING 9, ANDERSON 5
Madison Loechle got Spalding on the board first, with a two-run homer, to give SU the early lead. The Golden Eagles defense held strong heading to the top of the third inning.
Karlee Terral singled through the left side to get SU rolling.
Grayce Marcum followed with a single of her own, sending Terral home. This gave Spalding a 3-0 lead. Loechle continued her strong performance with a single to left field to give SU another run, making it 4-0.
Anderson grabbed the next two runs, but still trailed, 4-2. Once again Marcum got SU back on track. She doubled to left center field. She eventually was batted in by
Morgan Gambrell to make it 5-2. Once again, Anderson was not giving up. They tallied two more runs over the next two innings to make it a one run lead for SU, 5-4.
At the top of the seventh the Golden Eagles took control of this game. SU grabbed four runs. The runs were scored by Marcum,
Brooklynn Nolot,
Emma Eaton, and Loechle. The Golden Eagles held strong to win with a Dolly Parton scoreline, 9-5.
GAME TWO - SPALDING 1, CALVIN 2
It was a tough battle going into this one for the Golden Eagles against nationally ranked Calvin. This whole game was defense as neither team could tally any runs until the fifth inning. Calvin got on the board first with two runs in the fifth inning. As both teams were playing great defense, Spalding finally struck a run in the top of the sixth. Loechle singled to center field, followed by a double by
Bella Velez. This sent Loechle home to give SU their run of the game. Calvin went on to win this defensive battle, 2-1.
GAME THREE - SPALDING 4, ADRIAN 1
Terral got things rolling for the Golden Eagles with a single. A single by
Allison Nell gave SU two runs, giving them the early lead. As the next four innings passed by, neither team could find a run. As it hit the bottom of the sixth, Spalding struck again.
Jenni Beasley singled off of a bunt. No lot continued the trend, getting on via a bunt of her own. Gambrell stepped into the batter's box and singled to right field to load the bases. Loechle singled up the middle to grab two RBIs and Spalding advanced their lead to 4-0. Adrian grabbed a run in the top of the seventh, but it wasn't enough. Spalding took this win, 4-1.
GAME FOUR - SPALDING 4, DEFIANCE 3
Once again it was a struggle for both teams to grab a run early. As it reached the top of the fourth, Spalding finally grabbed their first run of the game. As bases got loaded off of two errors by Defiance, a fielder's choice got Beasley to first and brought home Nolot. Spalding took the lead 1-0 at the end of the fourth inning. In the top of the fifth, Terral got things rolling again for the Golden Eagles as she singled through the left side. Marcum followed by reaching base on a fielder's choice. Loechle singled up the middle, which advanced the speedster Marcum home, to give Spalding a 2-0 lead. Defiance answered in the bottom of the fifth with two runs of their own. This made it a tie ball game at 2-2.
No runs were scored for the remainder of regulation, so this one went into extra innings. In the top of the eighth, SU was feeling good. Beasley started on second base for the Golden Eagles and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Sidebottom got on base as she bunted. Terral followed with a slap down the left field line. This advanced both runners home, giving Spalding the lead, 4-2. Defiance had to find an answer in the bottom of the eighth, but they only grabbed one run. Spalding went on to win this battle, 4-3.
GAME FIVE - SPALDING 0, DOMINICAN 8
This was another tough battle for the Golden Eagles going into this game against another powerhouse in Dominican. It was all Dominican from start to finish. They tallied seven runs in the first two innings. Dominican then followed with another run in the fourth to end this game. The Stars take the win, 8-0.
GAME SIX - SPALDING 7, ANDERSON 3
Hayleigh Gnagie got SU on the board first as she singled to center field. This advanced
Dawn Wilson home to give Spalding the early lead. Anderson quickly had an answer, as they tied it the very next inning. As it reached the bottom of the fourth it was still a tie ball game, 1-1. Loechle was walked to begin the inning. Nell followed with a single of her own and advanced Loechle to third. Eaton then hit a single and this sent Loechle home to give SU the lead once again. This wasn't it for the Golden Eagles as Terral singled to right field and sent Nell home. This was the end of the inning, with SU leading, 3-1.
At the top of the fifth, Anderson answered with two runs of their own, making it 3-3. The bottom of the fifth was a huge inning for the Golden Eagles. Loechle blasted a homer to center field to grab two more runs. This was Loechle's second home run of the weekend. Spalding took the lead 5-3 to end the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth, SU put the nail in the coffin. Two more runs were scored by Terral and Gnagie to give Spalding a comfortable lead to close this one out. SU took the win, 7-3.
GOLDEN EAGLE NOTES
- Madison Loechle led the way with two home runs, nine RBIs, and a .500 batting average.
- Spalding ended the weekend with four more wins.
- Karlee Terral had seven hits and four RBIs on the weekend.
