VALDOSTA, Ga. –
Amanda Goelz hit her sixth home run of the season and drove in three runs to help lead the seventh-seeded Barry University softball team (43-17) to a 9-1 victory over the second-seeded Alabama-Huntsville Chargers (45-17) in five innings during the first round of the NCAA South Region Softball Tournament on Thursday.
“We played well overall today,” head coach Danielle Penner said. “Both our defense and offense really came through when we needed them.”
Alabama-Huntsville took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning. Amy Harris belted a one-out triple to right field and Stephanie Pinto followed with a suicide squeeze to give the Chargers an early lead.
The Bucs (43-17) responded with nine runs, only four of which were earned, in the top of the fifth.
Amber Jack singled to open the frame before being lifted for pinch runner
Sara Hipson.
Ali Perantoni followed with a sacrifice bunt that moved Hipson to second. Perantoni reached safely on the play when Harris misplayed the ball at third.
Brittany Anderson walked to load the bases before
Shyla Rider hit a ground ball to Anna Parker at second to score Hipson. Parker was unable to cleanly come up with the ball, allowing Rider to reach safely, and then threw the ball wide of home plate to allow Anderson to move to third and Perantoni to score. A pair of ground outs followed before
Amanda Goelz homered down the left field line to up the score to 5-1.
Maile Keeney followed Goelz's home run with a single up the middle to chase Charger starter Sage Woodham.
Holli Davis followed with a double to right to plate Keeney and moved to third as Alabama-Huntsville tried to get Davis at home before Jack reentered the game and walked. Perantoni's single plated Davis while an Anderson triple down the right field line drove in Jack and Perantoni to close out the scoring.
“This is a testament to our team to fight back against an early deficit,” Penner said. “We executed our bunts, ran the bases well, and had very timely hits.”
Jack (27-10) gave up just one run, four hits and struck out two to pick up her 27th win of the season. “This was a big win for us,” Jack said. “It really is very important because it sets the tone for the rest of the tournament.”
The Buccaneers pounded GSC Tournament MVP Sage Woodham (24-6) who suffered the loss for Alabama-Huntsville. She gave up six runs (one earned) in 4.2 innings, walked one and struck out one. Jenny Hess relieved Woodham in the fifth and gave up three runs on three hits.
Ali Perantoni went two-for-two and drove in a run to lead Barry at the plate. Goelz added a home run and three RBI, while
Brittany Anderson drove in a pair of runs with an RBI triple. Pinto drove in the Chargers' only run, while Harris, Hess, Parker, and Megan Blanchard recorded hits for UAH.
Barry will advance in the winners' bracket facing Rollins on Friday at 4 pm. Alabama-Huntsville will face Florida Gulf Coast in the losers' bracket at 11 am.
NCAA South Region Game 2 at Valdosta, Ga.
Barry 9, Alabama-Huntsville 1
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Barry............... 000 09 - 9 9 0 (43-17)
Alabama-Huntsville.. 100 00 - 1 4 3 (45-17)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitchers: Barry -
Amber Jack. Alabama-Huntsville - Sage Woodham; Jenny Hess (5).
Win-
Amber Jack (27-10) Loss-Sage Woodham(24-6) T-1:30 A-175
