David Almeda (Staff Writer)
A day after KSU’s softball team was essentially shut down by an anemic offense and crucial errors, the Owls went into Sunday’s rematch against visiting Lipscomb looking to avoid a four game losing streak and a series sweep at the hands of the Bisons.
They ended up getting more than they bargained for, as the Owls (16-14, 6-3 A-Sun) took advantage of a rejuvenated offense and timely miscues to engineer a 8-7 come-from-behind walk-off victory at Bailey Park on Sunday.
“It makes a big difference when you put the ball in play,” head coach Wes Holly Jr. said. “You make pitches and get timely hits. That’s what we had tonight, some back-to-back-to-back hits, coming through in the clutch situations. We have to be more consistent on a week in and week out basis.”
After being behind for most of the game, the Owls finally knotted it up in the bottom of the seventh. With pinch runner Rachel Dennis at third, Courtney Sutter drove a single to center field, giving KSU a walk-off victory over their conference rival.
“That’s my favorite time to be up to bat,” Sutter said. “You can’t really think of it as anything different than the at-bat before, it’s just another at-bat. You’ve got to be there for your teammates, you’ve got to have that equal equation.
KSU didn’t start the contest off on the right foot, allowing three singles and a double while committing one error in the first inning to help the Bisons grab an early 4-0 advantage. The Owls began to chip away at Lipscomb’s lead in the bottom half of the inning. With a double from Natalie Rhodes, an infield hit by Taylor Denton and another double from Angie Dascoli, KSU cut the deficit to 4-2.
Things stayed relatively quiet until the third, when the Owls took advantage of another Denton single, a stolen base and a Bison error to make it a 4-3 game.
After Lipscomb grabbed three insurance runs in the fourth to take a 7-3 lead, KSU answered in the bottom of the frame. After Sutter walked to lead off the inning, a groundout moved her over to third before Kara Chambers doubled to drive her in. An infield single from Rhodes then scored Chambers to tighten the score to 7-5.
Still down two runs in the final inning, the Owls had to rally. Rhodes led off the inning with a single before a bloop single to left from Denton put runners on first and second with no outs. Dascoli then delivered her second double of the game to score Rhodes before a sacrifice fly from Denton evened the score at seven. Later, Sutter cracked the decisive walk-off hit that gave the Owls a much needed win.
Amanda Henderson took to the circle for KSU, pitching her eighth complete game of the year while compiling her 600th career strikeout. She was happy about the accomplishment, but is looking forward in her last season.
“It’s been a long journey over the past four years,” Henderson said. “It feels great. It’s a huge mile marker. We still have a lot of season left. There’s a lot of ball to be played; there’s a lot of conference ball to be played.”
The Owls will return to Bailey Park on Tuesday night for a rematch against Georgia State.
