Photograph courtesy of ETSU Athletics
The ETSU softball team wrapped up its fall schedule on Saturday with a 14-inning game against King University.
After giving up the lead midway through the game, the Buccaneers beat King on a walk-off hit by Samantha Carpenter.
“The good thing about these 14-inning games is the fact that it is a continual game, and you don’t have to stop and rest and maybe play totally different in the second game,” said ETSU coach Brad Irwin.
The Buccaneers got off to a quick start, scoring in the second inning off a double by Jayci Mcgill and a single by Kelsey Chernak, which gave ETSU a 1-0 lead.
The Bucs weren’t finished scoring in the second inning. Mykeah Johnson hit a sacrifice fly ball to give the Bucs a 2-0 lead over King.
In the third inning, the Buccaneers were dominant on offense once again.
Lindsey Fadnek singled to center field, and Cassi Pickett doubled to right field, scoring Fadnek and giving the Bucs a 3-0 lead. ETSU ended the inning with two players on base.
In the top of the fifth inning, King got on the scoreboard with a double by Stephanie Rodriguez and a single to center field to put King a run closer and make the game 3-1.
King’s rally was not over in the fifth inning when Irwin elected to make a pitching change and put Taylor Carter into the game.
The runner tried to steal second base, but the Bucs threw her out to end the inning.
In the sixth inning, King inched a little closer to ETSU when Samantha Cole doubled to left field.
Two batters later, Diamond Callwood hit a ground ball to center to pull the Tornado within one and make the score 3-2.
In the top of the ninth inning, Callwood continued her dominance with a home run to tie the game at three.
“We played great at the beginning of the game and in that last inning, but need to work on what happened in the middle innings of the game,” said Irwin. “I told the girls just concentrate on what we did right today and let’s build on that.”
In the top of the inning, King started off with back-to-back home runs by Cole and Hannah Smith to give King a 5-3 lead going into the bottom of the ninth inning.
In the bottom of the ninth. Kelsey Chernak followed a single up with another to put two on base.
Two batters later, Johnson hit a single to score one run and put the Buccaneers one run away from tying King and the winning run on base.
Neither team scored again until the 14th inning, when Samantha Carpenter came up to the plate.
She hit the walk off double to left field to give the Buccaneers the 6-5 win over King.
“I haven’t been doing so great lately, but have been trying to get better, and just flicked my wrist for the hit,” said Carpenter. “I was overwhelmed and very excited. Now that I know I can hit it, I’m hoping I can put a better bat on the ball this season.”
The ETSU softball team is finished with their fall schedule and is now preparing for the regular season in the spring.
The schedule for the spring is being put together and should be released soon. Last season, the Bucs had a record of 15-33 and a conference record of 3-15.
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