PULASKI, Tenn. – With heavy rains postponing the second of two scheduled games on the afternoon, the Martin Methodist Softball team made its lone contest of the day a positive one as it rallied for a 7-5 come-from-behind victory over Grace (Ind.) Friday afternoon in the opening game of the 2014 MMC Meltdown at the East Campus Softball Complex.
Playing in their first home contest of 2014, the RedHawks (3-0) initially looked as if they might run away from the Lancers, building a 3-0 lead through the game's first two innings.
REVISED MMC MELTDOWN SCHEDULE
The RedHawks would fall behind in the third, however, when the Lancers (0-1) struck for a four-run inning to take a one-run lead and chase RedHawk starter Caroline Ezell.
The Lancer lead would be short lived, however, as the RedHawks responded for a game-tying run in the bottom half of the frame. Nikki Hodges got the inning started with a first pitch lead-off double to deep right center. Hodges would come in to score two batters later when Morgan May slapped a single through the left side of the infield for her second RBI of the night.
Knotted at four runs apiece, the RedHawks would push forward just one inning later when they struck for three runs in the bottom of the fourth. Ciera LaGrange led off the inning with a single to shallow left field before advancing to second on a Lancer wild pitch and being sacrificed to third by Dharianna Famila. From there, LaGrange came in to score on a Courtney Grooms RBI single to push the lead to 5-4. Grooms would come in to score three batters later when Samantha Wilson singled home both Grooms and Chandler Lacy, who was a courtesy runner for Hodges after Hodges' single to left.
The three run cushion would be more than enough for reliever Emily Robb, who allowed just two hits in 4.1 innings of work for her second victory (2-0) of the season. The sophomore allowed just one run on the evening and recorded two strikeouts in relief of Ezell, who received a no decision.
With the win, the RedHawks improved to 3-0 on the year – the program's best start since a similar 3-0 mark in the 2012 season when the club won six of its first seven games.
The RedHawks were scheduled for a 5 p.m. Friday contest against Bryan (Tenn.) College, but heavy rains forced the contest to be postponed.
The RedHawks are tentatively scheduled to return to action Saturday night when they face the University of Springfield (Ill.) at the East Campus. The contest, which is set for 7 p.m., will take place pending the results of Saturday's earlier scheduled games.
If no game takes place Saturday, the RedHawks will return for a pair of contests on Sunday afternoon when they take on Springfield and Campbellsville (Ky.). First pitch in Sunday's doubleheader is set for 1 p.m.
