The Gannon University softball team had an action-packed spring break in Clermont, Fla. The Knights played 11 games, starting March 3 and finishing Saturday, and came home with a record of 5-6.
In the first game against Missouri-St. Louis, Gannon wound up on the short end of a 3-2 extra-inning loss.
Lisa Szajn sparked a two-run sixth inning with a triple. Rachel Tanilli drove in pinch runner Taylor Iavarone with a single.
Tanilli then scored on Kristina DeMatteis’ RBI single, which was the tying run.
The game went into extra innings, and in the bottom of the ninth, UMSL’s Reagan Osborn had a walk-off single to win it for her team.
Gannon rallied in its next two games to defeat West Virginia Wesleyan, 6-2, and Trevecca Nazarene University, 8-3.
West Virginia Wesleyan jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with singles in both the third and fourth innings.
Szajn started off the bottom of the fourth for Gannon with an RBI double to score Kaity Stocker.
Tanilli followed with an infield RBI to score Maria Taliani to tie the game.
Kellyn Perich drove in the go-ahead run in the fifth inning on an error.
In the sixth inning, Gannon scored three more runs on Taylor Wilp’s RBI double, which scored Kherrin Morgan, while Sarah Ingerick drove home a pair of runs.
Perich picked up her first win of the season, pitching three solid relief innings.
Against Trevecca Nazarene, Stocker opened with an RBI single, and Taliani blasted a two-run double in the first to give Gannon a three-run lead.
The Trojans tied it in the third and after three scoreless innings, Gannon had a monstrous seventh inning with four hits and five runs to take the win.
Wilp and Perich both had RBI doubles and Perich scored on a wild pitch. To seal the win, Szajn smashed Gannon’s first home run of the season to bring in two more runs.
Later in the day, Gannon lost 6-1 to Mercy College.
Tanilli accounted for Gannon’s only run with a solo home run in the sixth inning.
Gannon dropped two games on March 5, 2-0 to Findlay and 3-0 to No. 1-ranked Saint Anselm. The shutout loss streak reached three on March 6 when Ashland claimed an 8-0 win.
But later in the day, Gannon came back to defeat St. Cloud State, 2-1.
Sarah Ingerick had an RBI ground out to shortstop in the third and Kristina DeMatteis hit a walk-off triple to give Gannon the win.
Kennedy DeMatteis had her first win of the year, fanning six batters.
On Friday, the Knights were outhit 18-2 and dropped an 11-0 decision to Augustana, but they bounced back in their next game to defeat the University of Mary, 5-2.
With the game tied, Szajn hit a three-run home run, which was her second of the week.
Stocker, who went 4-for-4, and Tanilli both scored on wild pitches. Taliani secured the win with a bases-loaded catch in the outfield.
Gannon wrapped up the week with a 5-4 comeback win against Lewis University on Saturday.
Ingerick tied the game in the third with an RBI double and Stocker smashed a solo shot in the fourth to make it 3-2.
Megan Dietrick hit her second double of the game in the sixth to score Tanilli, and Ingerick tied the game in the seventh with her first home run of the season.
The Knights dominated the eighth inning, with Stocker driving in the game-winning run and Kennedy DeMatteis sitting down Lewis’ lineup.
Tuesday’s scheduled doubleheader against Point Park University was postponed. The Knights will return to action Friday on the road against Clarion in a doubleheader starting at 2:30 p.m.
BRITTANY METZLER
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