TROY, Ala. – Jacksonville University's softball team defeated Samford, 7-0, in the first game of the Trojan Classic, but fell to the hosts, 8-5, despite a three-run last-inning rally, Friday.
vs. Samford
Jacksonville opened the Trojan Classic right with five stolen bases and runs in all but two innings for a 7-0 victory over Samford.
"We really pushed the envelope on the bases and were really aggressive; we made Samford throw it around the diamond a bit and we were able to take the extra bag when it was open," said Head Coach Jennifer Steele. "It was a different ballgame going from Wednesday night facing Florida to today facing Stamford's staff. They threw more off speed pitches and peppered the outer half of the plate and we did a great job making that adjustment."
The Dolphins got four runs early in the game when Allie McCourt and Danielle Baker reached on infield errors. McCourt ran home after the throw from Samford's catcher to second base was high. Kristen Griffith then drove in Baker and Madison Ragan on a hard hit ball out to right field and Griffith scored on a shot up the middle by Taylor Thorpe to give the Dolphins a 4-0 lead.
In the bottom of the next inning, Ragan slid under the catcher's tag off a bunt down the third base line by Griffith to add a fifth Dolphin run to the board. JU added another insurance tally in the bottom of the fourth when Ragan crossed the plate on a deep center field double by Bethany Kursch.
JU tacked on its final run in the bottom of the fifth when Jordan Daniels scored on a Bulldog throwing error with one out.
Thorpe earned the win on the mound for the Dolphins to improve to 2-0 on the season.
vs. Troy
Daniels opened the game with a bases-loaded double play in the bottom of the first to get the Dolphins out of the inning without any damage.
However, the Trojans struck first on a three-run shot past the left field wall from Becca Hartley, but the Dolphins earned two of those back in the top of the third as Ragan hit a shot out to right field to plate Daniels, who led off with a hard-hit single up the middle. McCourt then tagged up after Roberts hit a sac fly to the left fielder to bring the Dolphins back within one, 3-2.
Seana Mora came to the mound in the bottom of the third and was able to get the batter swinging to strand three Trojans on base and avoid any damage, but the hosts knocked in three runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 6-2 lead. Troy added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth to lead 8-2.
The Dolphins' seventh-inning rally started when Buss led off with a double down the left field line and advanced to third on a bunt from McCourt. Baker and Ragan were issued back-to-back walks for JU's first run of the inning and forced the Trojans to replace pitcher Peyton Glover with the starter, Rachel Rigney.
Roberts then reached on a fielder's choice to score McCourt and Griffith singled to left field to plate Baker for the Dolphin's final run of the game.
"They came out aggressive and hit us hard in the early innings," said Steele. "We were always playing catchup. It's tough to play from behind and we didn't keep our composure defensively in the middle of the ballgame to keep it manageable. We had a nice late run, but it was a little too late. "
Bilodeau fell to 2-2 on the mound with the loss. On the day, Ragan finished 3-for-6 at the plate with a walk, two stolen bases and two RBI, while Griffith added two hits and four RBI.
The Dolphins return to action tomorrow at 10 am CST/11 am EST against Longwood, followed by a rematch with Samford at 12:30 pm CST/1:30 pm EST.
