On Wednesday, Alma's Women's Softball team took on #22 ranked Adrian College, in a doubleheader, at chilly and blustery Scots Park in Alma. The Scots gained the upper hand in the opener, as they rode three homeruns to a 7-3 victory, to improve to 14-8 overall and 4-1 in MIAA play.
The Scots opened the scoring in the bottom of the second inning, when Sr. C Trista Geier (Livonia, MI/Walled Lake Western) homered with one out. That blast was followed two pitches later by a solo shot from Fr. DP Becca DeWyse (Bay City, MI/Bay City All Saints) to give Alma a 2-0 lead.
After So. P Tara Leddy (Saginaw,MI/Swan Valley) hit an Adrian batter to lead off the top of the third, she struck out the next batter, before giving up a single to put runners on first and second. The next Bulldog hitter, Meghan Stevens, nailed a three-run homer that gave Adrian a 3-2 lead heading into the bottom of the third inning.
The score remained 3-2 until Alma came to bat in the bottom of the fifth inning. Fr. 1B Emily Ross (Buchanan, MI/Buchanan) and So. CF Kelly Koenigsknecht (Fowler, MI/Fowler) reached base with hits and Jr. LF Kelsey Rightenburg (Lexington, MI/Croswell-Lexington) walked to load the bases.
Sr. 3B Brittany Fales (Midland, MI/Midland Dow) singled, scoring Ross and tying the game at 3-3. After a fly-out by Jr. 2B Kasey Miller (Grand Ledge, MI/Grand Ledge) that moved the runners, Jr. RF Sarah Johnson (Portland, MI/Portland) hit a grand slam which put Alma ahead by a score of 7-3.
The ranked Bulldogs did not give up without a fight though, and in the top of the seventh inning, Krissy Sheets homered with no outs to close the gap to 7-4. Adrian then loaded the bases on two singles and a walk with no outs in the inning.
However, Alma got the force out at home on the next batter and the game ended with a pop-out to Jr. SS Houston Verbeck (Burton, MI/Flint Kearsley) and a line-out to Johnson to put the game in the win column for the Scots.
Leddy went the distance for the Scots and gave up eight hits in the contest with three walks and ten strikeouts. Johnson had the four RBI's and Fales and Koenigsknecht each had two hits for Alma.
