SOFTBALL

The Forester softball team picked up their second straight conference sweep by topping the Grace Lancers, 8-7, 9-5, Tuesday afternoon at Phil Dick Field. HU’s two wins come on the heels of a sweep of Goshen on Saturday.

Game one was a wild one with the Foresters hanging on for dear life to preserve the win. After giving up just one run through the first four frames while finding home eight times, HU watched their lead dwindle to just two runs in the fifth when the Lancers unleashed for five runs for an 8-6 difference.

The hosts took one last stab at a heroic finish by making it a one-run game in the bottom of seventh before Karlee Franklin figuratively and literally saved the day. With the tying run on first with no outs, the first batter she faced put down a sacrifice bunt to move the runner into scoring position. Franklin went to work after that, calmly coaxing back-to-back ground outs to call it quits. The senior hurler was credited with the save while Kinzie Mollenkopf picked up the win.

After tossing the first three frames, Mollenkopf took another turn in the circle partway through the fifth and into the seventh before Franklin was called into action. During her 4.1 innings of work, Mollenkopf scattered nine hits, giving up two runs while striking out three for the win.

The Lancers struck first in their opening at-bat but starting in the second, HU got down to business to make for the seven-run difference after four innings of play. Six base smacks, which included RBI-hits by Carli Tharp, Kasey Hickle, Jess Duvall and Gena Moore, along with two errors added up to five Huntington runs in the second.

In the third, it was Khloee Gregory’s two-run single to left that upped the lead to 7-1 while Gabrielle Hypes’ run-scoring single up the middle in the fourth served as the crucial game-winning play.

Gregory finished 3-for-4 at the plate with two RBI and a run scored. Tharp added two hits and an RBI. As a team, Huntington hammered out 12 hits and drew seven walks while striking out just twice. Grace posted 15 hits, drew two base on balls while striking out four times.

Huntington had to fight from behind in the nightcap to keep the Lancers (4-14, 0-12) winless in conference play. While hits were nearly even with HU holding a slight 12-11 advantage, defense proved the difference with the Lancers committing five mistakes which resulted in four unearned runs. The Foresters didn’t commit any errors in either game.

Down 5-4, the turnaround for HU came in the sixth when they touched home twice. Three errors haunted GC was Hickle’s lead-off single Huntington’s only hit of the inning. The guests took advantage of a new pitcher in the seventh as well as another Grace blunder to pad their lead by three more runs.

Tharp finished with a two-run single. Gregory hammered out a pair of run-scoring singles. Moore finished with two RBI-groundouts. Jess Duvall drove in a run on a sacrifice bunt while twin sister Maddie doubled in a run.

With these wins, the Foresters improve to 17-9 overall, 6-6 in league play. Twelve games in, HU is sitting fifth in the conference standings. Coach Averill’s crew returns to their home turf on Friday to host Bethel at 3:00 p.m.