VIDEO INTERVIEW - ALLISON PIERCE
FORT MYERS, Florida – The Wilmington College softball team win a pair of games on Thursday, edging Crown College (Minnesota) 7-6 in eight innings and defeating The State University of New York at Canton (SUNY Canton) 5-0 on the final day of the spring trip.
The Fightin' Quakers concluded their spring trip with a 6-2 record and have won four consecutive games for the first time since early late March/early April of the 2013 season.
In game one, Crown jumped on top 2-0 in the first on four hits, but Wilmington answered with three unearned runs of its own in the bottom half of the inning courtesy of RBI-singles from Micalah Hensley and Kaylee Barber. Crown tied the game 3-3 with a run in the second, but a single from Allison Pierce scored two runs in the bottom of the second.
"They [Crown] jumped on us early," Head Softball Coach Beth Floyd said. "We did a good job remaining calm and coming back. I really love the fight of this team."
Neither team scored in the third inning, but Crown tagged Wilmington starter Grace Shell with two runs on three hits in the fourth to tie the game 4-4. Two innings later, Cassidy Valenzuela gave Crown a 6-5 lead with an RBI-triple.
The Quakers answered right back in the bottom of the sixth as Je'Taysia Johns singled to begin the frame was bunted over to second by Jillia Cook. After a one-two-three inning for Wilmington in the top of the seventh, the Quakers' first two runners reached base in the bottom of the seventh. A popup, flyout and strikeout stretched the game into extra innings.
The international run rule was in effect, putting a runner at second base to open the eighth inning. Crown got a runner to third base with two outs but failed to score. The Quakers punted Johns over to third base in the bottom of the eighth inning, and after a groundout, Pierce delivered a walk-off single to left field.
"Allison [Pierce] had herself a game," Floyd said. "She's been consistently hitting the ball hard."
Shell improved to 3-0 on the season the complete-game win, striking out six batters and scattering eight hits in the process. Wilmington outhit Crown 13-8 including a 4-for-4 day from Pierce with four RBIs. Johns and Barber also had two hits.
Valenzuela finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs for Crown in defeat.
In game two, the Kangaroos could not solve Beth Persicano as the senior earned a complete-game shutout scattering six hits in the seven innings with six strikeouts. Wilmington batted around in the fourth inning and scored four runs on four hits and an error. The Quakers tagged on one more run with a double steal in the sixth.
"Beth [Periscano] really established the inside part of the zone, and that setup all of her other pitches away," said Floyd.
Pierece finished 2-for-3 in the game while Cook and Hensley had RBI-hits.
Wilmington (6-2) returns to action for a doubleheader at Mount St. Joseph University on Thursday.
