CLERMONT (Fl.) –
Brooke Colledge led off the game for Altoona with a bloop single to center field and came around to score two batters later when Olivia Smith laced a couble to the fence in left. With the bases loaded and one out, Olivia Monismith struck out the next two batters to end the inning and keep it 1-0.
DelVal got the run right back in the bottom of the first. Sierra Ripka worked a lead off walk and then stole second to move into scoring position. The two-hole hitter, Caitlin Pollock advanced Ripka to third with a sacrifice bunt, and Adina Brucie worked a walk to put runners at the corner with one out. Brucie took off for second base and when the throw went down Ripka broke for home and tied the game at 1-1. The next two Aggies went down swinging and the game remained tied going into the second.
Monismith retired the next 12 batters in a row, but DelVal was held hitless through five innings as the game remained deadlocked at one into the seventh. The Aggies lone hit was a bunt single by Brucie who was then thrown out at second place by the right fielder on the same play, in the bottom of the sixth.
In the seventh, the Nitanny Lions had one run reach on a single with one out but two pop outs ended the frame and set the stage for the bottom of the seventh drama.
Monismith led off the seventh and worked a walk to get on base. Merrigan came up next and hit a hard ball into right field. Monismith went from first to third on the play and Merrigan took off for second on the throw. As the third basemen tried to throw out Merrigan at second, the throw bounced into right field and Monsimith raced home for the game-winning, walk-off run.
Merrigan's base knock was just the second of the game for DelVal, but the team did work six walks. Monismith pitched seven innings with just one walk allowed, one earned run against, and six strikeouts.
In the second game of the day, the Aggies took on the Bluffton Beavers as the visiting team. First-year Katherine Beckett got the start in the circle and got three ground outs in the bottom of the first to begin the retire Bluffton in order.
With one out in the bottom of the third, Beckett walked Mia McCartney and she came around to score the first run of the game after stealing second and later, a throwing error. The Beavers would load the bases in the third with two out, but Beckett was able to strike out Lexus Rutledge to end the threat and keep it a 1-0 game after three.
The DelVal comeback began in the sixth inning when first-year Sierra Ripka earned a lead-off walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Pollock came up next and laid down a bunt that was misplayed and allowed Ripka to score to knot the game at 1-1. Monismith came up next and sent a pitch over the left fielder's head and to the fence for an RBI double that plated Pollock and proved to be the game-winning run. Monismith later came around to score on a wild pitch and the Aggies posted two more unearned runs to take a 5-1 lead into the bottom of the sixth.
Needing a shutdown inning, Beckett struck out the first batter and got the next two to line out for a 1-2-3 inning. The Beavers got a two-RBI double from Lindsay Tate in the bottom of the seventh to make it 5-3 with one out and bring the tying run to the plate, however Becket got the final two batters to pop-up to second base to end the game and secure the victory.
It was the first career win for the first-year pitcher and helped the Aggies improve to 3-2 overall. She allowed seven hits and two walks and struck out four batters with three earned runs allowed. At the dish, DelVal managed five hits from four different players led by Monismith's two hits, an RBI, and a run scored. Pollock, Ripka, and McKenna Cooper each had a hit and a run scored.
The Aggies will wrap up their spring break trip to Florida with a pair of games tomorrow beginning at 2 p.m. against Wentworth Institute of Technology and culminating against Trine at 5 p.m.
