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TUSCALOOSA, AL—The Winthrop softball team was involved in a couple of 2-1 ballgames on Friday as it split on the opening day of the Easton Bama Bash, hosted by the University of Alabama.
Winthrop opened the day with a 2-1 victory over Western Illinois before falling 2-1 to Iowa on a walk-off single. The Eagles are now 3-5 on the year and will be back in action on Saturday against Iowa at noon and then against Western Illinois at 7 p.m.
After pulling off an eighth inning victory over Western Illinois in its first game of the day, it looked as if the Eagles had two straight wins before Iowa snatched victory from their gloves with two runs in the bottom of the seventh to win on a walk-off single.
“We just couldn't get out of the seventh inning as Iowa put the ball in play and did what they needed to do,” said Winthrop head coach Mark Cooke. “We hit a home run in the top of the 7th inning, which I thought may be a back breaker but we couldn't hold on.”
Winthrop had taken the lead in the top of the seventh inning with the first run of the game on a solo home run by senior Kathryn Eberlin. It was her second homer of the season and eighth of her career. The home run led off the seventh.
Freshman Dallas King, who started the game in the circle for the Eagles, had to leave the game unexpectedly with a sore shoulder after six shutout innings allowing no runs on five hits with a walk and a strikeout.
Iowa led off the seventh with a single to short and had runners at first and second with one out off of sophomore Sara Allen before Cooke moved to Sutton Watson to try and stop the rally. Johnnie Dowling got just enough of the bat on the ball to squeak a shot through the right side, scoring the tying run. The next batter put the ball in play and Michelle Zoeller was able to score from third on the fielder's choice as she beat the throw home to win the game.
Watson started the game against Western Illinois and turned in another solid performance as she improved to 3-1 on the year. The sophomore right-hander tossed a complete game eight innings allowing one unearned run on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts.
“Sutton just kept getting herself out of jams,” said Cooke. “She did a fantastic job. It was a quality game for us. This is a competitive tournament with some quality teams and we're competing so I'm happy with the team at this point. Pitching's been a strong point for us this year. When you're young up the middle you have growing pains, but we're playing well.”
After falling behind 1-0 in the top of the eighth inning, the Eagles won in walk-off fashion with two runs in the bottom of the eighth.
Using the international tying-breaker, Winthrop's Christine DeWitt was placed on second to start the bottom of the eighth and replaced by pinch-runner Brooke Tracy. Haley Zuehlke singled up the middle to put runners and first and second with no outs. After Zharne Glover struck out, Kristy Noble singled through the left side, scoring Tracy to tie the game. After McKenzi Corn reached on a single to the pitcher to load the bases, Chelsey Schoenfeldt came through with the game-winning hit as she pulled the ball down the line for the walk-off single.
On the day, Corn finished with three hits while Zuehlke had two hits.
