NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Taking down two nationally ranked teams on their final day of the Virginia Beach Games, no. 1 East Texas Baptist University defeated both no. 16 Pfeiffer University and no. 7 Christopher Newport University moving to 18-2. ETBU has now faced eight teams in the top 25, holding a 6-2 record vs. those teams.
No. 1 ETBU 11, No. 16 Pfeiffer 2 – 5 innings
An eight-run third inning propelled ETBU to a run-rule five-inning victory, 11-2, in the day's first game.
Tauryn Cummings and
Madalyn Melton had home runs, as ETBU had 10 hits. Cummings went 3-of-3 with three RBI.
Tristen Maddox followed with two hits and three runs scored. Melton added three RBI, while
Emma Bell and
Makayla Menchue had one RBI.
Larkin Daniels pitched three innings for the win, moving to 3-0 and recording four strikeouts. She gave up two earned runs on four hits.
Hannah Benavides pitched the final two innings, retiring all six batters with one strikeout.
Bell drove in the game's first run with an infield single as Maddox came in. Cummings followed with a two-run home run, making it 3-0. Pfeiffer cut the lead to one, 3-2, with two runs in the top of the third inning, only to see ETBU erupt for eight runs in the bottom of the inning.
Cummings doubled in Maddox for a two-run lead, 4-2, and then Melton swatted a three-run home run, making it 7-2. Menchue doubled in
Mallory Pyle for a six-run lead, 8-2. An error allowed Menchue to come in, and Mary Francis Ellis was the 10th run, scoring on a wild pitch. Maddox finished the scoring on a throwing error for the 11-2 lead.
Benavides entered for the fourth and fifth innings, shutting down Pfeiffer as six straight batters were retired.
No. 1 ETBU 8, No. 7 CNU 2
Down 1-0, after three innings, ETBU erupted for eight unanswered runs over the final four innings for the six-run win.
Avery Holland moved to 5-0, earning the win with three strikeouts, allowing two earned runs on four hits. She retired 12 straight batters from the second through the fifth innings, recording two strikeouts.
ETBU finished with nine hits, as four were for extra-base hits.
Izabella Morales went 3-of-3 for one RBI as Melton had two home runs for six RBI. Pyle added one RBI with one hit.
CNU scored first in the first inning and held the lead for three innings. With two outs in the fourth inning, Melton's second home run of the day went over the left-center field fence, making it 3-1. Morales made it 4-1 in the fifth inning on a single to left field, bringing in Menchue. Pyle bunted in the sixth inning, scoring
Carley Johnson for the four-run lead, 5-1. With two outs, again, in the top of the seventh, Melton hit a shot to left field, recording her third home run of the day, putting the score at 8-1. CNU scored one in the bottom of the seventh for the 8-2 final.
ETBU opens up the ASC on Saturday, March 22, at home against Mary Hardin-Baylor.
