[Softball] Softball Falcons take down No. ...
Henderson, Tenn. – The 2022 season hit a new high today (May 16) as the Friends University Falcons, the KCAC tournament champions, knocked off the No. 3-ranked and top-seeded Freed-Hardeman University Lady Lions for their first victory in the NAIA Opening Round since the 2013 season.
The victory moves the Falcons into a Winner's Bracket contest of the Henderson Bracket vs. No. 18-ranked and second seeded Columbia College tomorrow morning (May 17) at 11 am.
"We went into this game with nothing to lose, all the pressure was on them!" said Friends softball head coach Suzanne Unruh. "We had fun playing our game, and our game right now is great defense and timely hitting."
The Falcons stuck to a familiar theme to get on the board in the first inning, with leadoff hitter and sparkplug Aleigha Gale (SO/Winfield, Kan. ) drawing a walk, going to second on a successful sacrifice bunt by Meghan Low (SR/Collinsville, Okla.) and scoring on a two-run double by Carolyn Dallimore (JR/Patterson, Calif. ) against the NAIA's team leader in ERA heading into today.
Those two runs held up most of the way with Laila Spracklen (JR/San Diego, Calif. ) clearly on her game in the circle.
Freed-Hardeman entered today's contest tied for eighth in the NAIA in home runs, but that didn't seem to bother first-team All-KCAC performer Spracklen, who held the Lady Lions without a hit through the first four frames.
The Lady Lions scored a run in similar fashion in the bottom of the first when leadoff hitter Kennedy Harris walked, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, stole third and then scored on a throwing error.
It remained a 2-1 lead for the Falcons until the Lady Lions scratched across the tying run in the bottom of the seventh. It all started with pitcher Morgan Crawford walking on a close 3-2 pitch and pinch runner Natalie Gilmore stealing second, heading to third on a sacrifice bunt and scoring on a sacrifice fly by Annalise Jarnagin.
Undeterred, the Falcons responded with a leadoff single by Taylor Witter (FR/Perry, Okla. ), another walk to Gale and a perfectly placed sacrifice bunt by Low that allowed everyone to reach.
Now with one out, Spracklen lifted a sacrifice fly to center field to chase home Gale with the go-ahead tally.
After Harris reached base on a two-out error in the bottom of the eighth, Spracklen buckled down and induced a groundout to Hannah Lang (SR/Topeka, Kan. ) to finish off the victory.
"Laila did awesome working with batters and kept them guessing," said Unruh. "Carolyn's line drive in the first inning to score two runs was perfect and set the tone of our game. It's a blessing to be their coach!"
Witter had two hits for the Falcons, while Spracklen allowed just a combined two hits and struck out six in handing the Lady Lions (48-4) just their fourth loss of the season.
Crawford received her first loss of the season for the Lady Lions and surrendered three earned runs, the most she's allowed since Mar. 5.
The Falcons, now 31-19 overall and winners of 18 of their past 21 games, are set for a rematch tomorrow vs. Columbia College. Earlier this season at the McPherson Invite, Columbia escaped with a 7-6 win over Friends.
Since that win over the Falcons, Columbia lost their next two games to (RV) MidAmerica Nazarene University but have won 24 straight games, including a 3-0 win over No. 19-ranked and second-seed Madonna University earlier today in the NAIA Opening Round.
A win by the Falcons over Columbia puts them in Wednesday's (May 18) championship game, meaning they would need one win out of two to advance to the NAIA World Series. A loss results in an elimination game later tomorrow night at 5 pm vs. the winner of Freed-Hardeman and Madonna.
To follow tomorrow's game vs. Columbia, click the links below: