COLUMBUS, Ga. – Saturday morning brought gray skies but no rain at the National Fastpich Coaches Association (NFCA) D3 Classic as #16 East Texas Baptist University swept their top 25 opponents. After day one was rained out, ETBU opened up with wins over #8 Christopher Newport University, 3-1, and #12 Case Western Reserve, 4-1, to more to 6-1 on the year.
Hannah Benavides and
Ava Rodriguez both earned wins and
Toni Tamborello collected a save. Benavides won the opening game over #8 CNU recording six strikeouts with just two hits and one earned run. Rodriquez went five innings vs. #12 CWRU with one strikeout and one earned run as Tamborello pitched the final two innings for the save not allowing any hits or runs.
Haylie Stum led the team in bating with four hits in seven at-bats for a .571 average. She had two doubles and two RBI.
Emma Bell followed with three hits batting .500 with a double and two RBI.
Tauryn Cummings had two hits and two RBI as
Izabella Morales had one RBI.
#16 ETBU 3, #8 CNU 1
Benavides was on fire through five innings throwing a no-hitter before CNU broke through in the sixth inning. She retired the side in the third, fourth, and fifth innings but in the sixth CNU earned their only run of the game. She finished with six strikeouts allowing just two hits and one earned run.
Bell went 3-for-3 with two RBI recording a triple leading the team. Morales then went 2-of-2 with a RBI. Stum and Morales both had doubles.
After a scoreless first inning, Bell tripled with two outs to right centerfield to be in scoring position. Morales stepped up and followed with a double down the left field to make it 1-0 as Bell came home easily. Benavides then retired the next nine batters before CNU tied the game at one with two outs. With a runner on second base, CNU's next batter popped out to
Courtney White to end the threat.
With two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, Bell came through with a single to center field that scored both
Jalen Perez and
Natalie Norwood for the 3-1 lead. Benavides then retired the side in the top of the seventh inning ending with a strikeout to upset #8 CNU, 3-1.
#16 ETBU 4, #12 CWRU 1
ETBU's pitching and timely hitting came through, again, in game two on the day with a 4-1 win over Case Western Reserve. Rodriquez went five innings for the win moving to 4-0 as Tamborello earned her first save for the final two innings of work. ETBU had eight hits as Stum went 3-of-4 with two RBI.
Mary Frances Ellis added two hits and Cummings recorded two RBI.
With one out, Cummings singled through the right side of the infield as White came in from second base for the 1-0 lead. In the third inning, White started off with a double and advanced to third on a Cummings flyout to center field. Stum followed with a single through the left side as White came in making it 2-0. CWRU cut the lead to one, 2-1, in the bottom of the fifth and then was threatening in the sixth. After a leadoff walk, Tamborello came in and CWRU had three straight groundouts to end the inning.
It was a late inning rally, again, for ETBU as they scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning. White was walked with one out to load the bases. Cummings hit into a fielder's choice as Perez was the third run of the game. Stum followed with a single down the right field line as White became the fourth run and a three-run lead, 4-1.
In the bottom of the seventh, Tamborello had three more groundouts as she retired six straight for the save.
ETBU will face #3 Berry College at 9:00 a.m. (EST) on Sunday followed with a game against Babson at 11:00 a.m. to finish out the classic.
