MARYVILLE – Jenica Brown sparked a Maryville rally and then made sure it was complete to help the Scots gain a split of Saturday's doubleheader against No. 22 Huntingdon.
Maryville's senior center fielder tripled and scored in the third inning of Game 2 and then belted a three-run homer with two out in the sixth to break a 3-3 tie. It was Maryville's first win over a ranked opponent this season after five losses.
"It felt good, especially what it meant for the team," Brown said of her first home run of 2023. "I swung as hard as I could. We have worked a lot on our hitting and we all have come into this year with a lot of confidence, which is so important. I had to dig in and get the job done."
When Brown came to bat in the third, the Scots trailed 3-0 after having lost the first game 2-0. In fact, Maryville to that point as a team was 2-for-28 at the plate for the day.
Brown lined her triple to left center and scored on
Ava Whitmire's single. It was just a run, but it seemed to spark the Scots.
"We adjusted later than I would have liked but we had to change our approach at the plate," Maryville head coach
Jill Moore said. "We talked about what we were looking for after the second inning in the second game, and it worked in our favor. We started attacking pitches that we were looking to attack and hit."
Scoreboard Shot
Sara Koonce jumped on the first pitch she saw leading off the fourth for a home run that slammed off the scoreboard in left.
Bailey Myers drilled a double down the line in left and
Paige Dickinson singled sharply to left, and suddenly it was a 3-3 game.
Two innings later and still knotted 3-3,
Kaitlin Woodruff hustled a two-out double to begin the winning rally.
Emma Blankenship worked a walk and then Brown came through with her blast to straightaway center.
Brecca Williams later in the inning beat out an infield hit to plate an insurance run for the 7-3 final.
"That's what hard work does," Moore said of Brown. "She crushed it. She has heart for days and she earned that success. I'm so happy she was able to come through for our team.
"That kid works so hard and she owns what happens to her. If something doesn't work out, she feels like she didn't do her job. As soon as it came off the bat, I knew it was going to score at least two."
Brown finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored and three RBIs, lifting her season average to .275. She was the only Scot with multiple hits in Game 2 – or multiple runs, or multiple RBIs. The other eight positions in the batting order all came through with one hit apiece as Maryville outhit Huntingdon 10-7.
Meanwhile,
Kennedy Henry came on and pitched three shutout innings to pick up her second win of the season. She held the Hawks scoreless while her teammates rallied the cause.
"Kennedy has done her job all year," Moore said. "She came in and shut them down. She did exactly what we needed her to do at that point of the game and she continues to come out, throw strikes and shut hitters down. She was incredible."
'Big Win' for Scots
Huntingdon, which jumped into the National Fastpitch Coaches Association top 25 this week, won the first game 2-0. Crimson Wells and Brooke Cooper combined on a two-hitter, with Cooper getting her fourth win without a loss.
Dickinson and
Campbell White had the only Game 1 hits for Maryville.
Megan Ackerman pitched well for the Scots, allowing runs on a squeeze bunt and a wild pitch. Ackerman came on and closed out Game 2 with a perfect inning in relief.
"This is big; Huntingdon is always good – they're ranked," Brown said. "That's a big win for us, and it shows the conference what we can do."
Maryville is now 11-10 overall and 3-1 in the Collegiate Conference of the South, while Huntingdon is 17-5 and 1-1. The Hawks play Sunday at Berea.
The Scots are off until taking on Agnes Scott on Saturday and Wesleyan on Sunday down in Georgia.
"We don't play for a week, so we get to take this ranked win and go back to work at practice knowing we can hang with anyone," Moore said. "There's no game we're ever going to be out of."
