RALEIGH, N.C. – Sunday was a great day to get back to .500, and that's exactly what the Maryville Scots accomplished.
Maryville took down Shenandoah 6-3 and Bethany (West Virginia) 10-4 here Sunday to finish 3-3 at the Grand Slam Triangle Classic. The Scots dropped a game in extra innings Friday night and lost Saturday nail-biters by 4-2 and 7-6 scores, but they are back at 5-5 overall and carrying momentum moving forward.
"Offensively, defensively and in the circle, we had good starts and good closes," Maryville head coach
Jill Moore said. "After a long weekend, we were tired but we battled and did everything we needed to do to win two games today."
Megan Ackerman pitched a combined 5 and 2/3 innings Sunday, blanking both Shenandoah and Bethany on four hits with six strikeouts and just one walk. She picked up her first collegiate save against Shenandoah, allowing just one hit over the final 2 and 2/3 innings. Then she came back against Bethany and notched her first win of the season with three crisp frames, scattering three hits and fanning five.
"It's nice to finish on the good side of it than the opposite," Ackerman said. "These close games are what prepare us for championship play at the end of the season, fighting to get big wins under our belt. We are right there each game. It's just one pitch we need to execute to win the next one."
Ackerman leads the team with 32 innings pitched and a 1.75 ERA.
"I'm feeling good throwing," she said. "Just working on my spots and knowing what to do in the counts. I'm trusting my defense behind me and helping them by getting some strikeouts in key situations."
Sunday Hit Parade
After a rough day at the plate Saturday, Maryville belted 10 hits against Shenandoah and 12 more against Bethany.
Sara Koonce had a pair of singles in each game, finishing 4-for-7 with two runs scored and one driven in. The junior catcher leads the team in batting at .533.
Brecca Williams was 3-for-4 and
Ava Whitmire 2-for-4 in the Shenandoah game, while
Jenica Brown,
Bailey Myers,
Kaitlin Woodruff and
Paige Dickinson all contributed a pair of hits against Bethany.
Dickinson had quite the afternoon, earning her second pitching victory in the opener and belting her first collegiate home run in the nightcap. The righthander pitched 4 and 1/3 innings against Shenandoah, allowing two earned runs on three hits. Against Bethany, she had an RBI-single in the third and then her two-run homer cleared the fence in straightaway center in the fourth.
"It was nice to play from ahead; it was nice to see us click on all cylinders," Moore said. "We had a lot of people contribute and do a lot of different things. Brecca playing third and behind the plate this weekend was unbelievable.
"We executed things I needed to see us execute. And ending the weekend with two wins on a high note, it was a good weekend and a long weekend. It was great to see a lot of good things happen and I'm excited about us moving forward."
The Grand Slam Triangle Classic bills itself as the nation's largest collegiate softball tournament, with 37 teams from 14 states participating over the three days. Maryville played teams from New York, North Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia.
The Scots are back in action Tuesday at home against Johnson (6-2). The doubleheader starts at 5 p.m.
