Day Two in the Books of the #HLSB Championship

No. 1 Oakland 6, No. 4 Green Bay 5

No. 1 seeded Oakland got off to a quick start scoring in the bottom of the first inning and held on to defeat No. 4 Green Bay, 6-5.

The Golden Grizzlies dominated the first five innings, tallying five runs while holding the Phoenix scoreless. Oakland got on the board in the bottom of the first inning off of a shot up the middle from Sara Cupp that scored Jackie Kisman who led off with a single to left field.

Oakland would extend its lead in the bottom of the third inning to 4-0 as the squad tacked on three runs off of three hits. The Golden Grizzlies kept the offensive momentum going in the fifth inning as they scored one run on two hits while leaving three runners stranded on base.

The Green Bay bats came alive in the sixth inning as Katelyn Huemmer and Abby Brinkmeier reached base on walks and Allie Taylor singled to load the bases. A fielder’s choice on Jaclyn Delagrange’s hit to the shortstop scored the first run for the Phoenix as the team rallied to tie up the ballgame with five runs on two hits and two Oakland errors.

With the game tied at 5-all, Kisman hit in the game-winning run on a single up the middle for Oakland as the team held off Green Bay in the top of the seventh inning to remain in the winner’s bracket of the tournament.

Taylor led all Green Bay hitters going 2-for-4 at the plate with one run scored while Delagrange and Kelli Hutchinson each accounted for one of the two team RBIs, respectively.

Kisman went a perfect 4-for-4 leading Oakland in the lead-off spot with two runs scored and one RBI. She notched four of the eight Golden Grizzlies’ hits for the ballgame while Marina Salinas also went unblemished going 1-for-1 and crossed the plate twice. In addition, shortstop Sarah Hartley tabbed three RBI’s to top-off her 1-for-2 outing.

Oakland will face the winner of No. 2 UIC versus No. 5 Valparaiso at 2:30 p.m. ET tomorrow afternoon in game eight of the Championship.

No. 2 UIC, No. 5 Valparaiso 0

In an intense pitcher’s battle, the game remained scoreless until the bottom of the seventh inning where No. 2 UIC claimed the win over No. 5 Valparaiso, 1-0

Pitcher of the Year Elaine Heflin threw a complete game to notch the win for the Flames allowing just five hits and fanning five batters.

The Crusaders’ Taylor Weissenhofer went 6.0 innings in the loss despite a solid showing where she gave up just five hits and struck out seven batters.

The lone run scored of the contest was manufactured off of a walk to Dana Capocci who was the designated hitter for Amanda Mener. Mener got placed back in the game to run and advanced to second on a bunt and third on a wild pitch. Erica Hampton then hit the game-winning single up the middle of the field to score Mener and capture the win for UIC.

Valparaiso was led at the plate by Stephanie Moreno who went 2-for-2 while three other batters notched one hit each. The Crusaders failed to score nine runners who were left on base.

UIC had two batters go 2-for-3 in Paige Peterson and Hampton while leaving six runner stranded throughout the contest.

UIC remains in the winners bracket and will face Oakland at 1:00 p.m. ET tomorrow.

No. 3 Wright State 4, No. 5 Valparaiso 3

Wright State held off a late Valparaiso scoring effort to win game 6 of the Horizon League Softball Championship, 4-3.

The Raiders were in control the entire ballgame with an early three-run lead in the bottom of the first inning. The rally was ignited off of a Honnah Susar walk followed by a Jess Gorman single. Susar and Gorman then advanced bases on a Hanna Floyd bunt as the first RBI of the game came off of a sacrifice fly by Becka Peterson to left field. Wright State would then cross home plate two more times off of RBI singles by Libby Pfeffer and Kortney Tackett.

The game would remain at 3-0 until Wright State scored once again in the fifth inning off of a Reagan Stofcheck single up the middle of the field that scored Floyd who got on base by a walk.

However, Valparaiso put pressure on the Wright State defense in the top of the seventh inning where the team manufactured three runs on three hits after stringing together a set of hits and taking advantage of reaching base on walks.

Ashley Sharp earned the win for Wright State after pitching 6.0 innings allowing five hits and three earned runs. Montana Wear closed out the game in relief garnering all three outs in the seventh inning.

Wright State plays Green Bay in the first contest on Friday at 10:30 a.m. ET.