CLERMONT, Fla. – Sitting in a tough spot, the Grinnell College softball team displayed its fortitude.
The Pioneers exploded for five runs in the fifth inning – all with two outs - to rally past Oberlin College 6-4 Thursday. Grinnell had five hits in the big inning after collecting just two prior to that.
All-Region performer
Kayla Morrissey '18 lived up to that billing, going 3-for-4 at the plate with a pair of RBIs and a double.
Emily Jordan '19 added two RBIs and
Melissa Anderson '18 earned the pitching win.
The game was scoreless before Oberlin tallied four runs on five hits in the third inning. After a scoreless fourth inning, it was Grinnell's turn.
After the first two batters were turned away,
Lydia Stariha '17 got things going for the Pioneers with a single and stolen base.
Ashley Wehrenberg '19 followed with a single down the left-field line to put runners on the corners, and an illegal pitch moved each up a base to make it a 4-1 game.
Morrissey belted an RBI single up the middle and
Sage Juveland '17 followed with an RBI single to bring the Pioneers within a run.
After Anderson and
Megan Gibson '17 walked to load the bases, Jordan bashed a two-run single up the middle to give Grinnell a 5-4 edge.
The Pioneers added an insurance run in the sixth when Stariha reached base on an error, advanced to second on another error and came home on Morrissey's double down the left-field line.
Oberlin made things interesting in the final two innings, getting two runners on in both the sixth and seventh before Grinnell shut the door both times.
Earlier in the day, D'Youville College used a five-run sixth inning to pull away from the Pioneers for a 6-1 win. Wehrenberg and Jordan had two hits each, with one of Wehrenberg's being a double.
D'Youville scored a run in the third and then with its big inning led 6-0. Grinnell got its lone run in the bottom of the sixth when Juveland singled to left field, moved up two bases on a single to center by Jordan and infield single by
Andi Leff '18 before scoring on
Sidney Litke's 19 groundout.
Maggie Remus '18 was the pitcher of record for the Pioneers, who are 2-5 on the season.
Grinnell closes out its Florida trip Friday with a matchup against Carleton College.
