BELOIT, Wis. – Playing a pair of home games two hours away from Ripon due to weather concerns Saturday afternoon, the Red Hawks softball team split a doubleheader with Beloit College. Ripon ended the day on a high note with a walk-off win in the bottom of the eighth, which followed a 5-2 loss in game one.
The Red Hawks (8-18, 4-6 MWC) wasted no time in that first game getting on the board in the first inning with one run on four hits and an error.
Julia Sanchez scored the game's first run on a two-out single by
Isabella Osborn. That lead lasted until the fourth frame, when the Buccaneers recorded their first hits of the game, which included a two-run single by Ashley Lambert.
Beloit (6-22, 3-7 MWC) added three more runs in the sixth on Emalie Tharn's first homer of the season. Ripon would score once more when
Lexi Reetz crossed the plate on a wild pitch in the sixth, but it would not be enough.
Ripon out-hit Beloit 8-6 in the game, as Sanchez led the way with three base knocks and Osborn added two. Reetz took the loss, despite tying a career-high with 12 strikeouts.
The day's second game saw Beloit score first with two runs in the opening inning, and it was Ripon that clawed their way back, cutting that lead in half with a fourth inning RBI single from
Melanie Kobelt. The Red Hawks tied the score one inning later on a fielding error by Beloit's centerfielder.
After neither team scored in the sixth or seventh, it was onto extra innings, which saw Beloit take a 3-2 lead with a run in the top of the eighth. Ripon found a way to win however, scoring two runs on one hit and one error in the bottom of that frame. Reetz scored on a wild pitch to tie the game, which was followed by a dropped fly ball by the rightfielder off the bat of
Teara Morgenroth, allowing Osborn to score from third.
Both teams finished with eight hits. Ripon was led by Reetz's 2-for-4 performance at the dish. Reetz (6-9) also earned the win, striking out nine batters while pitching all eight innings. That gives Reetz 203 career strikeouts, making her just the sixth player in program history to record more than 200 strikeouts in a Red Hawks uniform.
The Red Hawks will be in action again on Tuesday when they'll host Marian University for a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m. That twinbill will also serve as Ripon's 'Play For The Cure' game in which all fans are asked to wear pink to raise cancer awareness. Donations will also be accepted throughout the day.
