Hornet Softball went 1-1 in their Sunday doubleheader with a loss to Arkansas Tech 3-2 but an 8-1 win against Minnesota Crookston at the Branson Lead-off Classic.
Starting off the first game, Arkansas Tech scored two runs in the bottom of the first, which caused the Hornets to fall behind early on. ESU was unable to get any runs across in the second, but junior infielder Leslie Ramos helped put the Hornets on the board 1-2 in the fourth with two outs.
At the top of the sixth, ESU pulled even 2-2 thanks to hitting efforts by sophomore catcher Ally Miller and sophomore infielder Kennedy Topping, who was subbed with Kylie Chester to run bases. The Golden Suns broke the tie over a go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth, leading the Hornets to fall 3-2 in the seventh.
In the second game, both ESU and the Minnesota Crookston started off slow offensively, with the Golden Eagles taking the first hit in the top of the third. ESU first took to the bases in the bottom of the fourth on junior outfielder Taryn Burkhardt. Afterward, ESU took the lead following a five-run frame after an error put ESU in a position to score. The error put ESU up 2-1 off of a hit by catcher Ally Miller.
A hit from graduate student infielder Haley Garnett and two from sophomore outfielder Juliana De Luna allowed ESU to gain 3 more runs and increase their lead 5-1 by the end of the inning.
During the fifth, De Luna threw out a runner from Minnesota Crookston at third and the Hornets produced another run, this time scored by Burkhardt, in the bottom of the half bringing ESU’s lead up 6-1. The sixth saw two more runs from freshman utility Kinsey Perine and Garnett and senior pitcher Jayda VanAckeren prevented the Golden Eagles from scoring in the seventh, securing the 8-1 win for the Hornets.
The Hornets began the Alvy Early Memorial Classic Friday, Feb. 7 in Bentonville, Ark. with another game day split, falling 7-4 to Truman State and winning 5-1 against William Jewell. They will play four more games over the course of the weekend, facing off against UT-Tyler and Arkansas-Monticello on Saturday followed by Missouri-St. Louis and Southern Arkansas on Sunday.
