CLERMONT, Fla. – An extra-inning game was the excitement on a day in which the IUP softball team fell to Northwood and Tiffin at the Dot Richardson Spring Games on Tuesday.
The Crimson Hawks lost to Northwood 4-3 in eight innings and 8-5 to Tiffin later in the afternoon. At the time of publication, the box score for the Tiffin game was unavailable.
IUP found itself behind early in game one, as Northwood scored in the first and second innings to take a 3-0 lead. The Crimson Hawks got things going in the bottom of the third inning, starting with a one-out single to left by
Hannah Mercer (Hollidaysburg/Hollidaysburg Area).
Megan Gould (New Germany/Forest Hills) followed with a single of her own, putting runners at first and second.
Stefanie McCoy (New Paris/Chestnut Ridge) forced a walk to load the bases before
Nikki Rzodkiewicz (Erie/Harborcreek) drew another walk, bringing Mercer in from third to make it a 3-1 game. IUP couldn't capitalize any more on their bases loaded situation, popping up and striking out to end the threat.
IUP made it a one-run game the following inning on a two-out RBI double to left field by Mercer, scoring
Rachel Francis (Jefferson, OH/Jefferson) from second. The tying run did not come until the bottom of the seventh, as Gould led things off with a triple to center. Two batters later Rzodkiewicz picked up her second RBI of the day with a base knock to left, easily scoring Gould from third to tie the game at 3-3.
The Crimson Hawks weren't done yet, forcing back-to-back two-out walks to load the bases, but a strikeout again ended their threat.
It didn't take long for Northwood to take that 4-3 lead as a fielding error during the second batter of the eighth brought the go-ahead runner in from third. The Timberwolves did have two runners on with one out, by IUP starter
Alexa Campbell (Manheim/Manheim Central ) pitched herself out of trouble and sent it to the bottom half.
IUP was able to put runners on the corners with two outs, but an infield liner ended up being the third of the inning as the Crimson Hawks finished one run short.
Campbell settled down after allowing those three runs in the first two innings, scattering just three hits over the next five innings. She finished with four strikeouts and allowed just two runs in the full eight innings. Mercer and Gould each had two hits for the Crimson Hawks.
IUP, now 1-7 on the year, will finish up its time in Clermont on Wednesday with morning games against Limestone and Urbana.
UPDATE (March 11): Against Tiffin, the Crimson Hawks took a 2-0 in the first inning as Mecer drew a leadoff walk while Gould followed with a double. Both would end up scoring on a throwing error by the catcher on a pickoff attempt. Tiffin went on top 4-2 in the third with the help of three base hits, a walk and a hit-by-pitch.
The lead would go back to IUP in the fifth with a three-run homerun by
Lauren Hogue (Seneca/Cranberry), her first of the season. Tiffin came right back to tie things up at 5-5 in the fifth with the help of a leadoff triple and then took the 8-5 lead in the sixth on the back of three consecutive base hits.
Amanda Spindler (Brownsburg, IN/Cathedral) went five-plus innings in the start, taking the loss for the Crimson Hawks.
Meghan Carney (Corry/Corry) and
Taylor Mercurio (Pittsburgh/Seton-La Salle) each had two hits.
Visit www.IUPAthletics.com for up-to-date information and follow the Crimson Hawks on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk.
