Box Score 1 When Leah Kelley took the helm of the Maryville College softball program two years ago, she had one goal that season – hit above .300.
After Saturday's season opener, the 2017 edition of the Softball Scots are well on their way to blowing that mark away, as they defeated Westminster College (Mo.), 14-2, before taking down Rhodes College, 11-3.
Maryville hit .441 in their first two games of the year, going 26-for-59 at the plate with 25 runs scored on 26 hits.
The highly-laden underclassmen squad touts 14 freshman and sophomores on the 17-person roster. On Saturday, five of those clad in Orange and Garnet recorded their first hits in a Maryville College uniform.
"Our team executed very well today," Kelley said. "It was an all-around team effort. Offensively, we did exactly what I expected from this team, if not more. Everyone contributed, and everyone did their job today. Our pitching staff also showed a lot of growth, and we kept runs off the board, allowing our defense to support them. I am excited to continue to watch this team grow. Tomorrow is a new day."
During Maryville's first game of the day, the Scots scorched Westminster College (Mo.), 14-2, behind .625 hitting average. The Scots went 15-for-24 at the plate, while scoring 14 runs with 14 RBI on the day.
After falling behind 1-0 in the top of the first, Maryville tallied six runs in the bottom of the inning.
Alexus Murray used a sacrifice fly to score Essence Strambler – who recorded her first MC hit with a single to third – before Aly Snider found a two-RBI single up the middle as her first collegiate hit. Morgan Brewer and Jessica McMahan scored on the play for a 3-1 MC lead. Christen Torres' first Scots' hit was an RBI double to right-center, scoring Grace Gordon. Ashton Hayden scored Snider on an infield RBI, before Jenna Roberts would single to center to score Torres. After the first, Maryville led 6-1.
Westminster would add another run in the top of the second, but the Scots would continue to roll, as they hung five runs on five hits in the bottom of the inning.
Rachel Taylor found an RBI single to centre to score Murray, before Snider would lace a two-RBI double to right-center, scoring Taylor and Brewer, who had her first career hit with a single up the middle. Roberts would find another key hit, lacing a two-RBI triple to left-cetner. Snider and Hayden – who recorded her first hit of her career with a single to second – both scored on the play to give Maryville a commanding 11-2 lead, just two innings into the 2017 season.
Both teams would go scoreless until the fourth inning, when Maryville would score three more runs. Strambler used a three-RBI double to center field, scoring Roberts, Hayden and Sarah Gordon. Those runs gave Maryville the final in five innings, 14-2.
Roberts led the day with a 3-for-3 effort with three RBI and a run scored. Snider went 2-for-2 with four RBI and a pair of runs, while Taylor went 2-for-2 with an RBI and a run plated. Hayden was 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI, as McMahan went 2-for-3 with a run scored.
Strambler had an impressive first day as a Scot, going 2-for-4 with three RBI and a run, while Brewer and Torres each went 1-for-2. Brewer had two runs, while Torres added a run and an RBI. Murray added a run and an RBI on the day, while Grace Gordan and Sarah Gordon both scored.
The Scots had only one strikeout on the day, while Morgan Corland earned the win in in 3.0 innings pitched. The sophomore hurler allowed just four hits and only one earned run. She had two walks and a strikeout. Nicole Blackburn – a sophomore transfer from Carson-Newman University – gave Maryville 2.0 innings inside the circle. She allowed not hits, no runs and no walks, while striking out two batters.
Maryville's pitching corps allowed only four hits on the day, as Amber Tepen (1-for-3) and Emily Lucitt scored Westminster's only runs of the afternoon.
In the second game of the day, Maryville against ran away, this time, from Rhodes College. The Scots tallied an 11-3 win in their second game of the day to move to 2-0 on the young season.
MC trailed, 2-1, after three innings, with Grace Gordon scoring an unearned run. Rhodes would score their two runs in the third on a pair of wild pitches.
Maryville knotted the game in the top of the fourth, as Snider scored Murray with an RBI double down the left-field line for a 2-2 score going to the fifth. The Scots would hang a pair of runs in that inning, as well, as Murray would lace a two-RBI single to score Strambler and Hayden. After five innings, Maryville led 4-3.
The Scots would put it away in the sixth, scoring five runs in the inning. Josie Milam scored Gabrielle Rathmell with an RBI up the middle, before Roberts would score Snider on a bases-loaded walk. An error would score two unearned runs, before Roberts would score on a wild pitch.
Maryville would add a pair of runs in the fifth off RBIs from Roberts and Strambler, as they scored Taylor and Christina White. They would take the win, 11-3.
Snider went 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI, while Roberts went 1-for-2 with two RBI, a run and a walk. Hayden, Murray and Taylor each went 2-for-4, while Murray added two RBI and a run. Hayden had two runs, while Taylor scored one.
Strambler went 1-for-5 with three RBI and a run scored, while Milam was 1-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored.
Milam got the win in relief, pitching 4.0 innings. She allowed only three hits and one run, while striking out three with a walk. Casey Joliff went 3.0 innings, allowing just five hits and two earned runs. She walked two, while fanning a pair.
For the Lynx, it was Kayla Rose and Kendall Henry that led the way, as each went 2-for-3. Rose, Carline Sutton and Christine Hume each scored runs for Rhodes.
Maryville will look next to face these same two opponents tomorrow, Feb. 5. The Scots will take on Westminster College at 11 a.m. CST, before facing Rhodes at 1 p.m. CST.
