The softball team traveled south competing against a series of teams in Georgia. The Tigers finished the trip with five losses, but earned a season-defining victory over the top-ranked team in the country, Berry College.
The Tigers found themselves behind late and in need of a comeback. They entered the seventh inning trailing, 6-3, before they made the Vikings’ fans nervous. First-year Jordyn Fera singled with one out and advanced to second base when junior Megan Montgomery reached on a fielder’s choice. Senior captain Gabby Smart earned first by a walk and junior Lauren Godden came through with a bases-clearing double to left center to tie the game.
First-year Mina Shaw says the team never doubted themselves, even when they were losing.
“It is important to us to always be resilient,” Shaw said. “So the lead didn’t intimidate us at all.”
Junior Kathleen Byers was placed on second base because of the tiebreaker rule and was plated when junior Liz Gets reached on an error. Fera walked, and Montgomery drove in Getz when she reached on a fielder’s choice. The Tigers used some small ball as Smart laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners up and Godden sent a two-run single to centerfield to keep the rally going.
The Vikings scored one in the bottom of the eighth off of a double, but junior Emma Baldwin shut them down by recording two outs via strikeout to end the game. This was only Berry’s second loss of the season.
Head Coach Erica Hanrahan knew it was going to take a lot of heart to get the victory over the highest-ranked team in the country, and she was satisfied with how they stepped up to the plate and made it happen.
“We won because we had determination and trusted in each other to get the job done.” Head Coach Hanrahan said.
Most games revolve around pitching, hitting and fielding, but first-year Julia Bork says that a defining factor that led to the upset was the passion the team brought to the game.
“No team who has only two wins beats a team with only one loss without being hungry to win,” Bork said. “We increased our intensity at the end of the game because we weren’t losing.”
Besides the victory over Berry, the team did suffer two losses from Emory College and Piedmont College, and an additional loss to Berry. First-year Julia Bork says the team is not worried about their record because the tough competition is preparing themselves for North Coast Athletic Conference play.
“We play really hard teams to prepare us for conference and postseason competition,” Bork said. “Only losing by a single run shows we are right there with them.”
The women’s record is now 3-13 on the year. The team’s next games will take place in Bloomington, Illinois as the team competes against Buena Vista and Illinois Wesleyan on Saturday, and against Anderson and Illinois Wesleyan on Sunday.