SOFTBALL

Facing one of the hottest teams in the league, the Forester softball squad welcomed the challenge, splitting Tuesday’s doubleheader with #RV Saint Francis at Westendorf Field. Huntington needed extras to claim game one, 5-2, before the Cougars answered with a 9-5 decision in the nightcap.

Saint Francis entered the day winners of 20 of its last 21, but that momentum didn’t faze head coach Tim Averill’s crew.

Game 1 – Huntington 5, Saint Francis 2 (8 innings)
The story for most of the day was Kinzie Mollenkopf who was riding a shutout until the bottom of the seventh when she gave up a wind-aided solo shot over the right field fence by Macie Dowd. Prior to Dowd’s big swing, the junior ace had surrendered just three hits while striking seven.

While offense didn’t come easy for HU either up to that point, Huntington scratched across the game’s first run in the third when Maddie Goheen delivered a two-out RBI single to plate Carli Tharp, who finished 2-for-3 at the top of the order.

USF’s equalizer in the seventh seemed to ignite something in the Foresters. With the heart of the order up heading into the top of the eighth, Jess Duvall ignited the eighth with a single before Goheen worked a gritty walk and Maddie Duvall moved them both with a sac bunt.

A perfectly executed squeeze bunt by Kailee Bishop plated the go-ahead run and opened the floodgates. Josslynn Harbert followed with a two-run single and Tharp added an insurance run with an RBI knock down the right field line to cap a four-run frame.

Mollenkopf handled late pressure with poise, stranding the bases loaded by striking out one and inducing back-to-back flyouts to seal the win.

Huntington totaled 10 hits in the opener, led by multi-hit efforts from Hypes and Tharp, while Harbert drove in a game-high two runs.

Game 2 – Saint Francis 9, Huntington 5
The Foresters showed fight again in game two, turning a 2-0 deficit into a 5-2 lead with a four-run fourth inning.

After an error and a walk set the table, Gaby Hypes sparked the rally with an RBI double. Khloee Gregory followed with another double before Harbert and Tharp chipped in with RBI groundouts and a sac fly. Goheen added a sacrifice fly in the fifth to stretch the advantage.

Jess Duvall paced the offense with a 3-for-4 showing, while Hypes and Gregory each added doubles in the effort.

But the Cougars answered in a big way, erupting for four runs in the fifth, half of them unearned, to reclaim the lead. Saint Francis tacked on three more late to secure the split.

Natalie Haselby took the loss after tossing five innings, allowing seven runs (five earned), while Bethany Haselby worked in relief.

With the split, Huntington moves to 26-20 overall and 18-16 in Crossroads League play. The Foresters close out the regular season Saturday with a road trip to Indiana Wesleyan. First pitch is set for 1:00 p.m.