MARYVILLE – Maryville's 1-2 pitching punch of
Megan Ackerman and
Kennedy Henry did their part and the Scots rustled up just enough offense for a Tuesday afternoon sweep of LaGrange.
Maryville won 4-2 in the opener behind Ackerman's six-hitter, and then Henry pitched 6 1/3 innings of outstanding relief in a wild 5-4 walk-off thriller.
The Scots in Game 2 spotted the Panthers four runs in the top of the first before Henry reached the circle and settled things down. The big blow for LaGrange was Kelsea Moody's three-run homer to left.
But then Henry started putting up goose eggs while patiently waiting for her offense to kick in. That finally happened in the sixth inning when
Jenica Brown tripled home a pair and then scored on
Paige Dickinson's ground ball, narrowing the Panthers lead to 4-3.
After Henry allowed three of her five hits in the top of the seventh – but no runs – Maryville in the bottom half got a leadoff bunt single from
Cierra Hudson.
Brecca Williams followed suit with a bunt single of her own, advancing Hudson to third with Williams moving to second on a throwing error.
Sara Koonce then laid down a bunt that scored Hudson, setting the stage for
Bailey Myers to plate the game-winner with a line shot off the lower leg or foot of LaGrange pitcher Abbey Gardner. The batted ball ricocheted past the first base foul line and Williams scored easily for the 5-4 victory.
'Nobody Counts Us Out'
"The biggest thing with our team right now is we never give up," Maryville head coach
Jill Moore said. "We're never out of it. Nobody on our team counts us out. We're really growing into our identity of 'the next person.' If I don't get it done, the next person is going to do it.
"I'm really happy with the way we came back in Game 2. They were a very good team. We just did what we needed to do in some key situations. We executed our game plan and we had a good short game that we worked on this week, so I was really happy with the way we executed our short game and our baserunning."
Henry allowed the five hits and walked just one while striking out four. She improved to 4-2. LaGrange's Gardner pitched her first complete game of the season but took the loss and dropped to 1-5.
"Kennedy came in lights out," Moore said. "She did her job; she kept us in that game. If we give up one or two more runs, that game gets out of reach for us. But Kennedy was outstanding coming in and slamming the door for us."
The Scots in that second game had eight different players with one hit each and five different players scoring a run.
Brown Leading CCS with Seven Triples
In Game 1, Maryville struck first when
Micayla Clark delivered a pinch-hit, two-run single through the right side in the fourth inning. The hit scored Brown and pinch-runner
Annie McCormick.
LaGrange tied it 2-2 in the fifth on Lindsey Swearngin's booming two-run double to left – the hardest hit ball allowed by Ackerman all game. But the Scots were back in front when Brown doubled and
Ava Whitmire followed with an RBI-single to left center. Williams singled in an insurance tally with two outs for the 4-2 final.
Brown was 3-for-3 in the first game and 4-for-6 for the day, with three runs scored and two driven in. Included was a double and her CCS-leading seventh triple of the season.
Ackerman outdueled LaGrange's Claire Chamberlain by allowing just six hits and no walks while striking out five. The Maryville lefty threw her 10th complete game of the season and returned to .500 at 9-9. Chamberlain allowed four runs on nine hits and struck out two in falling to 8-8.
"Great win in Game 1," Moore said. "Megan had a great outing in the circle. She kept us in it as she always does. She has been our constant and our steady all year, and we were able to get her some run support early and then late in the game after they tied it up."
The Scots with the sweep reached 20 wins overall and 10 wins in the CCS, improving to 20-13 and 10-4. That is tied with Piedmont for third place, and Maryville hosts Piedmont this weekend.
But first, the Scots entertain Centre (14-16) in a makeup doubleheader Thursday at 1 p.m.
LaGrange dropped to 11-21 overall and 5-9 in the CCS, falling behind Covenant into sixth place.
