MONTEVALLO, Ala. –Simon Fraser University rallied late in the game against Tusculum College to earn a 4-3 victory on the final day of the Falcon Frenzy Tournament.
With the win, the Clan returns home from its season-long 12-game road trip in Alabama with a 6-6 record. SFU will play its final four tune-up games at the Northwest Cup in Oregon on February 20-21.
The game remained scoreless through the first two innings of play, with the Clan and the Pioneers both leaving three base runners on base. Tusculum opened the scoring in the top of the third with two runs. Simon Fraser starting pitcher
Jessica Goulet walked the Pioneers' Taylor Battle to lead off the inning before advancing her to second base on a wild pitch. Goulet then walked Miranda Beeler and the Pioneers executed a double steal to move Battle to third and Beeler to second. Battle would score on a throwing error by the Clan catcher and Beeler scored off an RBI double by the next batter, spelling the end to Goulet's outing.
Alia Stachoski came into the top of the third and earned three outs to keep Tusculum's lead at 2-0. In the fourth inning, she struck out the side in order but SFU could not come up with any runs, allowing the Pioneers' to maintain their two-run advantage.
Tusculum added a run in the top of the fifth to make it 3-0.
Simon Fraser's offense came to life in the bottom of the inning.
Victoria Saunders hit a single to get things started for the Clan and
Taylor Gillis reached on a fielder's choice. With Gillis at second base,
Taylor Lundrigan stepped up to the plate and delivered a two-run home run to cut the Pioneers' lead down to one, 3-2. Riding on the momentum, SFU picked up three quick outs in the top of the sixth to allow the bats to get back to work.
Rachel Proctor singled through the left side to reach base and moved to second on a
Katherine Murnaghan ground out.
Hailey Gearey walked and the two Clan base runners advanced on a
Robyn Mogavero single. Saunders' second single of the game sent Proctor and Gearey across home plate, giving SFU its first lead of the game at 4-3. Tusculum failed to score in the seventh inning and Simon Fraser came away with a comeback victory.
Lundrigan, Saunders and Mogavero finished the game going 2-for-3 while Gillis, Proctor and Murnaghan all had a hit on the day. Stachoski was the winning pitcher, facing 20 batters in five innings. She gave up a run on three hits, finishing with nine strikeouts and only surrendered one walk.
The Clan's GNAC schedule begins at the end of the month, with home-and-home doubleheaders against Western Washington on February 27 and 28.
Follow the SFU Clan softball team for behind the scenes pictures and more all season long on their official Instagram account.
--@SFUClan--
