COLUMBUS, Ga. – On the final day of the NFCA Leadoff Classic, with early morning game times, no. 1 East Texas Baptist University finished strong with wins over no. 10 Trine University and DePauw University. ETBU is now 13-1 and went 5-1 in the Classic with two wins over top 10 teams.
Tristen Maddox produced five hits with five RBI and two home runs. Stum added four hits with three RBI, while Cummings had two RBIs.
Madalyn Melton had a win and save, and
Avery Holland earned the victory over Trine.
No. 1 ETBU 8, No. 10 Trine 3
ETBU led 6-1 after two innings and held onto an 8-3 win with seven hits and two home runs. Maddox was 2-of-4 with two RBI and a home run, while Stum had a home run. Cummings and
Mary Frances Ellis added a RBI. Holland went five innings for the win with five strikeouts, and Melton finished the final two innings for the save with three strikeouts.
Morales scored on an error for the first run, and Cummings grounded out to bring Stum in with a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Trine cut the lead to one in the second, but ETBU added four runs for a 6-1 lead. An error allowed the first run, and then Maddox had a two-run home run, and Stum produced a solo shot for the five-run lead. Trine added a run in the fourth but followed with two more runs, making it 8-2. Two passed balls brought in the runs. Trine scored two in the fifth and one in the seventh to end their scoring 8-5.
No. 1 ETBU 11, DePauw 5
Coming back from being down 4-3, ETBU scored in five consecutive innings for the six-run win, 11-5. Down 1-0, ETBU scored 11 unanswered with three runs in the third, sixth, and seventh innings. Maddox again led the team, going 3-of-5 with three RBI and a home run. Morales, Stum, and Ellis all had three hits. Stum, Morales, and
Katelynn Jones had two RBI, while
Emma Bell and Cummings gave one RBI. Bell's RBI came on a home run.
McKenzie Jones went three innings for the no decision as Melton finished the final four innings for the win. Jones had five strikeouts, while Melton added four.
DePauw took a 1-0 lead in the first, but ETBU added three at the top of the third. Morales, Stum, and Jones all had RBI hits. Stum had an RBI single in the fourth, and Bell homered in the fifth, scoring a 5-4 lead. Maddox, Morales, and Jones all earned a RBI with hits in the sixth inning, making it 8-4. Maddox homered in the seventh for two RBI, and Cummings added an RBI for the 11-5 win.
ETBU will host York College in a doubleheader on Friday, March 7.
