SOFTBALL

After suffering a 7-1 loss to Indiana Tech in Thursday’s opener at Warrior Park, the Forester softball team broke out their bats in the nightcap to run-rule Tech 13-4 in five.

With this split, Ehler and crew move to 8-6 on the year. For the Warriors, it’s just their second loss of the year as they move to 9-2.

HU felt the wrath of sophomore pitcher Savannah Bravo (6-0) who has given up just seven earned runs this year in 44 innings in the circle. She tossed game one and gave up just one run, an RBI-double in the sixth at the bat of Kinzie Mollenkopf, and scattered five hits in seven innings of work while fanning five Foresters.

Tech plated three runs in the first and never looked back to make for a quick outing.

Huntington turned things around in the nightcap with Mollenkopf tossing a dandy to trip up Tech’s offense. The freshman sensation needed just 84 pitches to pick up her third win of the year. She allowed just four hits, four runs and a walk while striking out three.

At the plate, Ehler’s squad was clicking on all cylinders. In addition to collecting nine hits, the Foresters also took advantage of six walks and five hit batters to rack up double-digit runs for the fifth time this season.

HU jumped out to a 5-0 advantage in the second with their first three runs coming by way of two walks and a hit batter after which Reck rocketed a two-run double into left field. The Warriors got all but one of those runs back in the home half of the second, but HU didn’t let up on the gas pedal.

The visitors scratched across five more runs in the fourth with Jess Duvall kicking things off with a two-run double before heading home on another Reck two-bagger. Courtney Mason and Kasey Fisher kept things going with back-to-back RBI-singles to swell Huntington’s lead to 10-4.

The fifth saw HU pile on three more runs. Duvall had a target on her back. After taking a pitch in the arm in the second with bases loaded, the same thing happened again in the fifth. Reck drove in her fourth run, this time by way of a sac fly, and then Fisher wrapped up the day’s scoring with her second RBI-single of the series.

Tech had the bottom of the fifth to close the gap in order to extend play but Mollenkopf wasn’t having it as she worked a 1-2-3 frame to pack up and head home early.

Duvall and Reck each had four RBI and one and two hits respectively to lead their team offensively. Fisher finished 2-for-2 at the plate to go along with two RBI.

The Foresters open up conference play on Tuesday with a trip to Mount Vernon.