SOFTBALL

Playing in their league opener at Spring Arbor, the Huntington softball team ran away with the opener 7-1 before suffering a 5-1 loss in the nightcap to split with the Cougars (10-8, 3-3).

Heavy hitters Jada Crofoot and Paige Eichelberger carried the load for their team through the first six frames by accounting for HU’s first five runs. Eichelberger pounded out a run-scoring double in the first and then again in the fifth with a single in between to finish 3-for-3 at the plate for the game.

Crofoot singled in run No. 2 for Huntington in the fourth and then blasted a two-run shot over the right field fence in the sixth. Not only was it the first dinger of her collegiate career but also marked HU’s first long ball of the season. The Foresters added two more insurance runs in the seventh on a pair of RBI-groundouts by Kennedy Krull and Kiera Stacy respectively.

The Cougars scored its only run in the first after which Meghan Fretz effectively shut down SAU’s offense. After giving up a hit in the first, HU’s ace surrendered just two hits through the final six frames. With solid defense behind her, she didn’t allow any Cougar beyond first base the rest of the way.

Huntington finished with 11 hits, four for extra bases. It was the third time this year Gower’s crew logged double-digit hits. In addition to Eichelberger’s three hits, Crofoot, Karley Blankenship and Denaia Rice hammered out two apiece.

The Foresters’ offense went silent in the nightcap except for Rice’s solo homer in the third. It was the rookie’s first four-bagger of her young HU career. On the other hand, offense came easily for the Cougars highlighted by a three-run homerun in the first. It capped off a four-run inning for the hosts and set a tone that Huntington couldn’t overcome.

SAU would go on to add one more run to their total in the fifth on the way to cruising to the W.

Both teams finished with seven hits with Rice claiming two for HU. Mallory West took the loss for the visitors. She tossed the first five frames to give up seven hits and five runs while striking out three before Anna Weigold offered an inning of hitless, scoreless relief.

Huntington (5-7, 1-1) hosts Mount Vernon on Tuesday at 3:00 p.m.