PIKEVILLE, Ky. – The 2020 season for UPIKE softball got started on Saturday with a big statement, nearly sweeping the preseason No. 12 team in the nation Indiana Wesleyan in a doubleheader.
Game 1 – UPIKE wins 3-1
The season opener was a pitchers' duel throughout with neither team being able to surmise much on offense, but a single rally by the Bears provided all that was needed to amount a 3-1 win over the Wildcats, 3-1.
Hannah Skaggs picked up the win for the Bears, pitching a nine-hit complete game with just the one run allowed with seven strikeouts.
All of the scoring in the game came in the fourth inning. IWU scored in the top of the inning with a home run to take the 1-0 lead, but that was all that the Wildcats could muster in the inning.
IWU had chances throughout the game but Skaggs as well as the Bears defense was able to keep the runners on the basepaths as IWU left seven runners on base in the game.
UPIKE used an efficient small ball rally in the fourth to take the lead and eventually the win. Freshman Maci James got the inning started with a walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Megan Claypool then got a single up the middle to put runners on the corners with one out.
Haley Osborne earned the first UPIKE RBI of the season on a sacrifice squeeze bunt where the Wildcats threw home, but James was able to beat the tag to stay at one out in the inning.
Zoe Ingram kept the rally alive with an RBI single of her own and then the Bears executed a first-and-third double steal to push the lead to 3-1.
The closest IWU would get for the rest of the game would come in the sixth when they got two runners in scoring position with just one out, but Skaggs shut the door on the threat with back to back strikeouts.
Game 2 – IWU wins 9-7 in 8 innings
The day's second game was the polar opposite with both teams' bats catching fire in a 9-7 extra inning win for the Wildcats.
The two teams combined for 19 hits in the game with UPIKE outhitting the Wildcats 10-9, but the Bears were done in by six errors committed in the field.
Even with all the errors, UPIKE still held a sizable lead early in the contest.
IWU took the lead first though in the first inning with two runs on just one hit in the inning. But UPIKE struck back with three runs each in the second and third innings.
All of the scoring in the second came in one at bat when Alysha Bolling hit a bases clearing triple and scored herself on an error on the same play to instantly turn a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead.
The scoring in the third was more of UPIKE's usual small ball. Mackenzie Pawlak started the inning on with a double and scored in the next at-bat on an RBI single from Haley Karr.
Karr advanced to third on a sacrifice but on an error to put runners on second and third with no outs.
Alyssa Franklin picked up her first UPIKE RBI on a fielder's choice to score Karr and then Natalie Joyce picked up her first RBI with a single up the middle.
Indiana Wesleyan responded with a three-run rally of their own in the top of the fourth, but the Bears still held a 6-5 lead until IWU's Miranda Wehrle hit a home run to tie the game.
The game went into extras with the International Tie Breaker rule in place to put a runner on second to start the inning.
An additional IWU reached on an error that scored a run then the Wehrle hit another home run to give them a 9-6 lead.
Pikeville scored their free runner on an RBI single from Hannah Absher and but couldn't get any more runs to potentially tie the game.
UP NEXT
After Wednesday's cancelation, the Bears next game is also the first road contest, a doubleheader at Milligan starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday in Milligan College, Tenn., just outside of Johnson City.
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