SOFTBALL

On opening day of the Crossroads League Tournament at IWU, the 7th-seeded HU softball team came up short twice to be eliminated from postseason play by suffering a pair of 4-1 losses, the first to 2nd-seeded Indiana Wesleyan and the second to 6th-seeded Saint Francis.

Up against IWU, ranked 7th nationally, in the opening game, the Foresters managed five hits but still threatened in multiple frames.

Most notable was HU’s rally in the seventh that saw Kaela Robey knock one out of the park for her sixth homer of the season. Gower’s crew proceeded to land two in scoring position with one out before Wildcat pitcher McKenzy Ridge worked her way out of the jam to leave both stranded for the complete-game win.

Leading up to the near-heroic finish, Huntington left at least one stranded in three different innings to keep the pressure on the Wildcats. Megan Fretz tossed the first four frames to take the loss for HU. She gave up ten hits and four runs while striking out three before Adelyn Harsh offered two innings of scoreless relief.

In an elimination game against Saint Francis later in the day, HU struggled at the plate to collect just four hits and had just as much trouble defensively having committed an uncharacteristic four errors that resulted in two unearned runs.

Just like the first game of the day, Huntington scored their lone run in the seventh. This time around Mallory West scorched a shot down the right field line for a triple and then cruised home on Paige Eichelberger’s RBI-ground out.

Jada Crofoot posted two of her team’s four hits while Hannah Shoupe and West accounted for the other two.

Fretz got the starting nod in the circle where she tossed 5.1 innings to be charged with the loss after giving up six hits, three runs, only one of which was earned, and a walk while striking out two.

The loss brings a close to the Foresters’ season. Gower and crew wrapped up the year with a record of 25-29.