Scots Trot into Bracket Championship Round

Tournament Central

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Two down and one to go!
 
Maryville moved into Saturday's Collegiate Conference of the South Softball Tournament bracket championship round with a 7-3 victory Friday over host Huntingdon.
 
That makes it eight straight wins for the Scots and 16 of their last 19 since they lost 2-0 to these same Hawks in the first game of a doubleheader back on March 25. Maryville won the second game that afternoon and has been playing its best ball of the season since.
 
Megan Ackerman went the distance for her 13th pitching victory and eighth win in her last nine starts. She is 8-1 in that nine-start stretch with a 1.08 ERA.
 
"Megan pitched great," Scots head coach Jill Moore said. "That is a tough offense to throw to, and we weren't perfect on defense. But we didn't have to be, and we picked ourselves up when we had to and Megan pitched out of some tough spots. She was terrific today."
 
This one promised to be a test of the second-seeded Hawks and the third-seeded Scots, and it was Maryville who jumped on Huntingdon quickly.
 
Fast Start for the Scots
The Scots loaded the bases with two walks and a bunt single before Jenica Brown delivered a sacrifice fly to right field. Maryville was then gifted two more runs when Micayla Clark's sharp ground ball went right through the Huntingdon second baseman for an error that made it 3-0.
 
In the second after two were out, Brecca Williams tripled and Sara Koonce drove her home with a looping single to right for a 4-0 lead.
 
Huntingdon scored single runs in the third and fifth innings to trim the margin to 4-2, but Maryville's Bailey Myers delivered a based-loaded double down the line in left. Koonce was retired at home on a close call, but Myers scored anyway when Emily Hill popped up and the ball was dropped.
 
Huntingdon tacked on a harmless tally in the seventh and that was that.
 
"Coming out in the first inning and scoring some runs for Megan was a huge momentum burst for us," Moore said. "That definitely made our game plan easier to stick to. It put us in a good position for the rest of the game.
 
"The late burst helped us go out in the top of the seventh with confidence and a little more ease. We had left some runners on earlier in the game, and coming through with those runs was huge for us."
 
Myers led the Scots with a 2-for-4 afternoon, scoring twice and driving home two. Brecca Williams also scored twice while going 1-for-1 and walking twice, and Sara Koonce was 1-for-1 with three walks.
 
Maryville takes on the winner of Friday night's Huntingdon-Agnes Scott rematch. First pitch is noon Central time on Saturday, and the Huntingdon-Agnes Scott winner has to defeat Maryville twice.