MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. – Improbable.
Implausible.
Unbelievable.
Inconceivable.
There simply aren't enough adjectives to properly describe Abilene Christian's monumental 10-9 comeback victory in extra innings Saturday afternoon vs. Monmouth at the Eastern Michigan / Madeira Beach Invitational.
We've seen
Bobby Reeves' teams post a number of late-inning rallies over his eight seasons as head coach, but nothing quite like what happened today. His team was down nine runs after two frames, and on the brink of being run-ruled by the Hawks with two outs in the fifth when fortunes began to shift in the Wildcats' favor.
Big innings always seem to start with little mistakes, and in this case it was a fielding error by Monmouth's freshman third baseman Bri Battavio that set the wheels in motion for ACU's meticulous rally that spanned five innings.
Battavio's miscues allowed pinch hitter
Katelyn Belch to reach first base. Then back-to-back singles loaded the bases and forced a Monmouth pitching change.
Hawks' reliever Lilly Robles struck out the first batter she faced, but subsequent plunkings of shortstop
Peyton Hedrick and catcher
Kayla Keeling staved off ACU's elimination by making it a 9-3 game.
One inning later it was a 9-5 contest after Belch (2-3, three runs, two RBI) cracked a two-run home run to left field. Then in the Wildcats' seventh,
Brianna Barnhill clubbed her team-leading fourth round-tripper of the spring and
Braegan Hamilton ripped a game-tying, two-run double to the left-center gap with two outs.
With the score now tied at 9-9 Reeves brought in his ace
Hannah Null to finish the game. And while the senior ultimately would be awarded the win, it would have all been for naught without the steadiness of pitcher
Calie Burris and the Wildcats' defense through the middle innings.
Burris was forced into action early after starter
Shelby Craig surrendered three first-inning runs on three hits and a walk. Burris recorded the final two outs of the opening frame to minimize the damage, but the second inning was nightmarish with the Hawks scoring six unearned runs on five hits, the biggest of which was a three-run home run by catcher Alex Holzman that made it an 8-0 game.
Monmouth (1-2) scored once more after the Holzman jack, and would continue to put baserunners on vs. Burris from third to sixth innings (nine left on base) but never added to its already sizable lead.
The Wildcats (4-4) in the third inning stranded a Hawks runner at third base, and in the fourth, Monmouth left runners at first and second while ahead 9-1. Then in the fifth, with a chance to put the game away once more, leadoff batter Katie Harrington was gunned down at home plate by Hamilton following Katie Baron's single up the middle.
Harrington again ran into an out during the home half of the seventh, trying to advance to third base on Howerth's bunt back to the pitcher. Null tossed the comebacker to
Holly Neese, who alertly threw the ball back across the diamond to catch Harrington in a rundown between second and third, where Belch placed the inning-ending tag.
ACU went on to take a 10-9 lead in the eighth with Hamilton scoring from third on Keeling's fly ball to center field, and in Monmouth half, Howerth was left at third as Null induced two ground outs to end the game.
Null tossed only 17 pitches in her 2.0 innings of work, while Burris reached 100 pitches through 5.2 innings.
Null's efficiency in game one of Saturday's doubleheader allowed her the opportunity to start the nightcap vs. Georgia Southern (6-2). Sadly, however, there was no repeat of the Wildcats' heroics from game one as the Eagles used a two-out grand slam by Alesha Mann in the fifth inning to post a 5-3 victory.
Georgia Southern scored an unearned run in the first, but their lead vanquished two innings later when the Wildcats scored three times on two hits in the third. Neese tied the score at 1-1 with her single to right-center field and Keeling followed with a two-run double to center.
ACU had a chance to add some insurance runs in the fifth, but instead left a pair of runners in scoring position. Then in the bottom of that frame, Null was one out away from a 1-2-3 inning of work but two hit batsman gave way to a single, which loaded the bases for Mann.
The Wildcats recorded one-out singles in both the sixth and seventh innings, but neither runner advanced past second base as Hedrick ended the game lining into a 4-3 double play.
ACU plays the final game of its Florida trip Sunday at 11:30 a.m. ET vs. George Mason (1-2).
