BETHANY - Going into the bottom of the fourth in the first game against East Central on Monday, the Southern Nazarene softball team found themselves down 5-0 and many may have thought that SNU would have to look towards game two to possibly salvage a split in the GAC Opener against the Tigers.
Not this day and not this team.
SNU clawed back into the game and got a walk-off single from
Brooklyn Sparkman to take game one before following that up with another come-from-behind performance in game two, this time with a go-ahead grand slam from
Riley Kalman, to surge ahead and win the series over East Central, 6-5 and 10-4.
SNU gets their overall record over .500 at 8-7 and moves to 3-1 in the GAC.
It wasn't the start they had planned.
East Central took advantage of a heavy wind and got a pair of homers in the first two innings to build a 3-0 lead. That lead increased to 5-0 in the fourth as a wild pitch and a RBI single ballooned the lead out to 5-0 with SNU only having one hit to show for thus far.
Then came the bottom of the fourth as
Peyton Robinson reached on an error followed by a single from
Mahina Sauer. One batter later,
Caitlyn Curlee stepped into the box and hit an absolute monster of a home run over the left field wall to suddenly flip the game on its head at 5-3. SNU would eventually load the bases up where Sparkman helped her own cause with a RBI single.
East Central threatened in the fifth with back-to-back singles in the inning, eventually getting the runners into scoring position. However, Sparkman showed grit and got out of the inning, keeping the game at one run.
With two outs in the bottom of the fifth, Curlee got a rally started with a hit by pitch while
Hailie Fellers singles.
Skye Ah Yat would step up and lace a single to left, bringing Curlee around and tying the game at five a piece.
Sparkman began to find her groove as she sat down the next seven batters setting up SNU in the bottom of the seventh. Curlee again got it started with one down as she rocketed a double down the left field line. Eventually with situational moments for the next few batters, it would set up Sparkman again with the bases loaded and two down and she came through again, singling right back up the middle to drive in the winning run and give SNU the 6-5 victory.
Sparkman (W, 5-0) pitched 6.2 innings and got four strikeouts in the game. She also helped her cause at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two RBI including that game-winning hit.
Cassidy Davila made a brief appearance in relief midway through the game to get Sparkman out of a jam.
Curlee was 2-for-3 with a double, a homerun, two runs scored, and three RBI while Ah Yat added the only other RBI. Fellers went 3-for-4 with two runs scored.
After a scoreless first in game two, SNU got things started in the bottom of the second as Curlee laced a double into left center to give the Crimson Storm the early advantage. East Central responded with three in the third, but Kalman cut the deficit back to one in the bottom half with a RBI single.
The Tigers made it a 4-2 on a SNU error, but the big inning came for the Crimson Storm in the fourth. Ah Yat led it off with a walk followed by a sac bunt from
Kai Sanchez and
Brooke Stutz reaching on an error.
Jacey James put a charge into one that was caught at the wall, scoring Ah Yat to make it 4-3 while Knox reached on an error and Sauer walked.
That set up Kalman, who stepped to the plate and got a hold of that flew just fair around the left field foul pole for a grand slam to push the Crimson Storm ahead 7-4.
ECU would threaten in the top half of the fifth, but Sparkman came in relief for
Cheyenne Laguna and finished the inning off to remain ahead by three.
SNU was not done yet as Curlee went oppo in the sixth inning, sending her second homerun of the day over the right center wall to make it 9-4. Sanchez would follow later in the inning with a RBI single and SNU rolled to the 10-4 victory and the series win.
Kalman was incredible, going 3-for-3 with a grand slam, five RBI, and three runs scored while Curlee had another outstanding game, going 2-for-3 with a double, home run, and three RBI. Sauer scored a pair of runs while Ah Yat drew a pair of walks.
Victoria Rodriguez was 1-for-1 with a run scored.
Curlee got the start in the circle and was releived by
Caitlin Lewis. Launga (W, 1-2) made an appearance and pitched 1.1 innings while only allowing a run. Sparkman (S, 1) earned the save by pitching the final three innings and allowing no runs on two hits to go with four strikeouts.
SNU will be back in action on March 1st as they hit their first conference road trip, traveling to Arkadelphia to take on the Ouachita Baptist Tigers. First pitch on Friday is at 2 p.m.
