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SPARTANBURG, S.C.- It was tension-filled to the end, but a ninth inning single by Lindsay Vollmer eventually lifted the Owls to a, 2-1, victory over the Jacksonville Dolphins in an elimination game in the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship. The Black and Gold take on Lipscomb at 3:00 p.m. on Friday.
Having already driven in the Owls (31-23) only other run of the game in the third inning, Vollmer stepped to the plate with runners on first and third base and one out in the bottom of the ninth after a Jessica Cross double and an intentional walk to Sharon Swanson. It looked like the game was over when Cross’ lead-off shot to right centerfield almost cleared the fence, instead hitting the top of it and keeping the game going for the moment. Vollmer would end it once and for all three batters later, hitting a shot of her own to the gap in left center-field that would easily score Cross and win the ball-game.
The Black and Gold were buoyed throughout the evening by Abbey Mixon, who tossed nine innings of run, four hit ball, striking out eight batters in the process. The junior, who had also pitched three and a third innings on Thursday morning in their loss to Stetson, knew she had thrown a lot of pitches, but wasn’t going to let that affect her outing.
“I was definitely fatigued, but I knew in the ninth inning that if we could get through it without allowing any runs the top of the lineup was coming up for us and we would produce the winning run,” Mixon commented. “Knowing that my teammates would come through definitely kept me going throughout the game.”
Jacksonville (31-25) fell in extra-innings for the second time on Thursday, having dropped an, 8-4, decision to Florida Gulf Coast in eight innings earlier in the day. The Owls, for their part, snapped a five-game slide in the A-Sun Championship, which dated back to 2010, and rebounded from their, 7-2, loss to Stetson on Thursday morning.
The Owls had a chance to end the game in the eighth inning, loading up the bases with nobody out after a Kaylee Williams walk, a Jacksonville error and a bunt single by Carly Van Auken loaded up the bases with nobody out against Sarah Sigrest, who struck out eight batters in four and a third innings of relief. A bunt by Natalie Rhodes, however, was caught by third baseman Amanda Schmidt, who made an impressive grab as the ball was about to hit the ground and then spun around to double Williams off of third, suddenly making it a two-on with two outs situation, which Sigrest and the Dolphins would get themselves out of.
Kennesaw State’s near miss in the eighth was indicative of their entire evening, which saw them score just two runs on 12 hits, all of them singles except for Cross’ ninth inning double, while stranding 13 runners. They also had two runners on after Cross and Swanson drew one-out walks, but were unable to keep the game from going extra innings.
Mixon, for her part, retired the first eight batters she faced until Melissa Morales hit a 2-1 offering over the left centerfield wall with two outs in the third inning. That was the only run the Canton, Ga., native would allow on the night, not once having more than one Jacksonville runner on base at a time throughout the course of the evening.
“Abbey pitched a great game, and our defense behind her was good, we were able to stay in it until we got the big hit we needed,” Owls head coach Scott Whitlock said. “This was a hard-fought win that we need to build on when we take the field tomorrow.”
Trailing, 1-0, in the bottom of the third after the Morales home run, Vollmer stepped to the plate with one out after singles by Cross and Durant put a pair of runners on. She would hit one hard through the left side, scoring Sharon Swanson, who had canceled out Cross on the base paths with a fielder’s choice. The score would remain tied at one until the game’s conclusion.
Cross was 3-for-4 for the Black and Gold, while Swanson, Durant and Vollmer notched two hits apiece. Cross and Durant were the two Owls to have multiple hits in each of their two games on Thursday.
In Lipscomb, the Owls find a team that dropped a, 2-1, decision to Jacksonville on Wednesday night before topping USC Upstate, 8-3, in the first elimination game on Thursday. The Owls and Bisons split their doubleheader on Apr. 20 at Bailey Park in Kennesaw.
The winner of Friday’s 3:00 p.m. game will play again at 5:30 p.m. against the loser of the 12:30 p.m. game between Florida Gulf Coast and Stetson.
Free, live video streaming will be available for Friday’s games via ASun.tv, with free, live audio also available on KSU All Access at
www.KSUOwls.com/Showcase.
