Griffins escape with winning run in the seventh to lead the SLIAC
Coming into today's game tied with Eureka College, Fontbonne softball posted two wins to position themselves at the top of the SLIAC leaderboard.
St. Louis, Mo. - Fontbonne secured first position in the SLIAC today with two wins over Eureka College. The Griffins trailed 5-4 in the bottom of the seventh with one out and the bases loaded when Emelia Modglin hit through the left side for the walk-off two-RBI single. The Red Devils threw home but Diamond Thomas slid in safely for the win. The Griffins are now 20-11 overall and 12-2 in conference. They play at neighboring WashU this Wednesday, April 27th for a 4 p.m. doublehader and host Iowa Wesleyan on senior day on Saturday, April 30th. Then, the Griffins look to keep their 12-0 home record in-tact for the season.
Game one
Eureka scored their only run in the first inning on an error. Modglin's double scored two for the Griffins in the bottom half of the inning. In the second inning, Thomas bunted for a single and stole second. Alleigh Kruse struck out swinging, but Eureka's catcher dropped the ball and missed Kruse on the tag. She threw to third to try and get Thomas but both runners were safe. Maddy Strickland, the designated player drove in both after Kruse stole second.
Eureka hit a ground-rule double in the fourth and turned a double-play in the sixth. Madi Leonard struck out seven while walking two and allowing just one hit and one run. Fontbonne recorded seven hits off Eureka's Kali George in the circle. Thomas went three-of-three and scored once.
Game two
Eureka plated one run in the first and three in the second to lead 4-0 for two innings. The Griffins answered with four runs in the fourth. With two outs, a walk loaded the bases for Strickland who drove in two more runs on a single to right center. Kayla Winkler pinch ran for Strickland. Courtney Kedroski hit a blooper to left center that fell between two Red Devils. Kruse scored from third while Winkler made it all the way home from first base.
Both teams went three up, three down in the fifth and sixth innings. Eureka had two outs in the seventh with runners on seconda dn third when Kedroski dropped a popup that allowed the Red Devils to take a 5-4 lead.
Kedroski singled with one out for the potential tying run. Thomas went for the sac bunt but the pitcher mishandled the slow roller and Thomas beat out the throw. Both runners advanced when Sam Brown walked to load the bases for Modglin's game-winning hit.
Modglin went three-of-six on the day with four RBI's, five assists, a double, a walk and a stolen base. Her double was the only extra-base hit for Fontbonne. All four RBI's came on her first and last at-bats, coincidentally, Fontbonne's game-winning runs in each game and first two and last two of the series. Maddie Cooksey went two-of-four with two runs scored, two walks. Strickland recorded four RBI's on two hits. Leonard struck out 14 for the two victories and her 15th win of the season.
Eureka's heavy-hitting freshman K. Dura battled Modglin for the best average at the plate. She too went three-of-six with a double, two RBI's and one run scored. She had five assists as well.