WATERVILLE, Maine – The No. 20 Husson University softball team split a non-conference doubleheader at No. 19 Colby College on Thursday evening, dropping the opener in extra innings, 3-2, before bouncing back with a 4-2 win in the nightcap.
Game 1: No. 19 Colby 3, No. 20 Husson 2 (8 Innings)
Husson (14-3) struck first in game one and carried that lead into the second inning. Junior Camryn King opened the day with a double down the left field line, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by senior Morgan Curtis, and came home on a sacrifice fly from senior Morgan Tainter to make it 1-0. Colby (15-3) answered in the bottom of the second, using a walk, a hit batter, and a sacrifice bunt to set the table before a two-run single up the middle gave the Mules a 2-1 edge.
The Eagles pulled even in the fifth. After sophomore Allie Casavant was retired to start the inning, King singled and moved into scoring position on Curtis' groundout. Tainter then delivered again, singling to center to bring King home and tying the game at 2-2. Husson had another chance in the eighth after King was placed on second to begin the international tiebreaker frame and moved to third on Curtis' sacrifice bunt, but Colby escaped the inning without allowing the go-ahead run. In the bottom half, the Mules executed a sacrifice bunt to move their placed runner to third, then ended the game with an RBI single to left-center for the 3-2 final.
King paced the Eagles offensively in the opener, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a stolen base, while Tainter drove in both Husson runs and Watterson added a pair of hits, including a double. Junior Ana Lang was strong in the circle despite the hard-luck loss, allowing just three hits and two earned runs over 7.1 innings while striking out 13.
Game 2: No. 20 Husson 4, No. 19 Colby 2
In the second game, Husson (15-3) responded after Colby (15-4) took a 1-0 lead in the third. The Eagles broke through in the fourth when senior Lydia Rice worked a leadoff walk, moved to second on a groundout, and scored on freshman Jetta Shook's RBI single up the middle. After a pitching change and a passed ball moved Shook to third, senior Emily Dunbar grounded out to bring her home and put Husson in front, 2-1. Colby answered in the bottom of the fifth on a solo home run, but the Eagles had the final response in the seventh. Freshman Sophia Lynch reached on an error to begin the inning and King also reached on an error, then Curtis laid down a sacrifice bunt to move both runners up. Rice followed with an RBI single, and a throwing error on the play allowed another run to score as Husson stretched the lead to 4-2.
Husson's pitching staff made that late lead stand up. Junior Sierra Yates started and allowed one run over the first three innings with four strikeouts, and Lang came on in relief and earned the win with four innings of one-run ball and six strikeouts. Colby put the tying run on base with a two-out single in the seventh, but Husson closed out the split from there. Rice finished 1-for-2 with a run scored, an RBI, and two walks, while Shook went 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI. Dunbar doubled and drove in a run, and Casavant also doubled for one of Husson's four hits.
For the day, Tainter drove in three runs across the two games, King scored three times, and Lang logged 11.1 innings in the circle with 19 strikeouts across the doubleheader.
Husson opens up play at home and North Atlantic Conference action this weekend with doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday, beginning with a twinbill against Vermont State University Johnson on Saturday at 1 p.m.
