Box Score Maryville College continues to lead the USA South Athletic Conference, as they followed senior Christen Torres for a 10-2 win in six innings over Berea College.
MC swept the Mountaineers to move to a perfect 12-0 in USA South play. The Scots lead the Western Division as the only unbeaten squad in conference play.
"That means everything," Head Coach Leah Kelley said. "We have goals. We have team goals, and that was one of the things to focus on. We want to win the regular season, win a conference championship, and it goes on from there. Right now, we're just checking off boxes. We're checking off goals that we've set out to do."
The Scots defeated Berea in the first game of the day, 10-0, in five innings. The victory marks the fourth-straight 20-win season for the Scots on the softball diamond.
Torres went 2-for-4 with four RBI and a run, as she blasted a two-run homer. Catcher Alexus Murray went 4-for-4 on the day with two runs and an RBI.
Maryville College struck in the bottom of the second inning, as the Scots tallied five runs. Sarah Gordon singled up the middle, before pinch runner Ashleigh Geary stole second. Torres plated both with a two-run homer to left-center. Casey Joliff singled to the pitcher, and Ashton Hayden drew a walk to put two on. Alexus Murray loaded the bases with a single to right-center, as Essence Strambler's two-RBI single up the middle scored Hayden and Amaya Goodloe. Taylor Campbell earned an RBI with a single to left, scoring Murray for a 5-0 lead.
Berea plated a pair of runs in the top of the fourth to cut into MC's lead. Kendra Hubbard doubled to left, before Savannah Fallis scored her with an RBI triple to center. Annelise Hackney promptly plated Fallis with an RBI single to left, as the score stood at 5-2.
MC got those runs back in the bottom of the inning, scoring a pair. Murray singled to the pitcher, before Campbell's RBI double to right-center scored the catcher. Reid Ballard tallied an RBI with a single down the left field line, plating pinch runner Christina White for a 7-2 lead.
Maryville added an additional run in the fifth, as Hayden blooped a two-out single to left. Murray scored her from first with an RBI single to right-center, making the score 8-2.
The Scots earned the walk-off in the bottom of the sixth, as back-to-back singles by Campbell and Ballard put runners on. Torres found a two-RBI double to left-center, scoring Ballard and Campbell for the 10-2 final in six innings.
Maryville College (20-8, 12-0 USA South) was led by Torres and Murray, as Campbell went 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run. Hayden was 2-for-2 with two runs, while Ballard was 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI, Strambler was 1-for-4 with a pair of RBI, as Gordon, Morgan Brewer and Casey Joliff added a hit each in MC's 17-hit attack. Goodloe, White and Geary each scored runs.
Pitcher Morgan Corland moved to 3-1 with a complete-game effort. She allowed eight hits, striking out four Mountaineers on the day.
Berea College (11-21, 3-11) was led by Fallis who went 3-for-3 with a run and an RBI. Ashley Spencer was 2-for-3 for the Mountaineers.
Maryville College will return to action on Tuesday, April 9. The Scots will face Covenant College in a USA South double header beginning at 1 p.m.
