Melbourne, FL – Alma College Softball continued Spring break action on their third day in Florida on Tuesday. The Scots swept the day, taking down Grove City, and earning Head Coach Denny Griffin's 1,000^th career coaching victory with a win over Eastern.
 
Alma 5, Grove City 3
 
Alma put the first runs on the board in their opening game of the day against Grove City. Morgan Brandau started the scoring with an RBI single up the middle, which allowed Julia Duncan to scamper home from second base. Danielle Dumoulin advanced to third on that play, and was scored by Jaycie LaValley with a sacrifice fly on the next at bat.
 
The score remained at 2-0 until the 5^th inning, where Alma was able to strike once again. Jordyn Porter singled through the left side, allowing Kylie Halverson and Natalia Rodriguez to come around and score. Porter worked her way to third, where she was able to score on a double steal from Alma to make it 5-0.
 
Grove City cracked the goose egg on the scoreboard in the 6^th to tighten things up. The Wolverines scored 3 runs, and Alma called on Halle Mockridge to come in and close things down. Mockridge did just that, with the Scots pulling out the 5-3 win.
 
Mikaylyn Kenney (2-1) went 5.2, striking out 9 while allowing 6 hits and 3 runs to pick up the win. Mockridge (1) picked up the save, pitching 1.1 and striking out the final batter of the game.
 
Alma 1, Eastern 0
 
Only 2 words could describe Denny Griffin's 1000^th win. Instant Classic. The Scots and Eastern entered into a pitcher's duel from the first toss, and the game was tight all the way to the end. Alma threated to score in the opening frame, but left a pair on base. The Scots also left the bases loaded in the second inning, forcing the Eastern pitcher to throw 65 pitches in the first 2 innings of the game.
 
The teams combined to strand 8 runners in the game, and combined for just 4 hits total. Alma's 2 hits both came in the first inning, and as the game wore on, it became clear that it would take a play on the base paths to score.
 
For Alma, that play came in the 4^th inning. Jaycie LaValley walked to get aboard as the leadoff. A sac bunt moved her over to second, and an error by Eastern's third baseman allowed her to scoot to third. It was a wild pitch over the catcher's glove that allowed LaValley to charge home and score what would be the game's only run.
 
From there, Alma shut things down, making diving grabs and great plays defensively to inch closer to the win. History was sealed in the glove of Mackenna Salley on a pop fly, earning Denny Griffin his 1000^th win.
 
Morgan Westall (3-0) went the full 7.0 to pick up a complete game shutout win. The sophomore struck out 4, allowing just 2 hits to Eastern in the W.