SOFTBALL

After sweeping Saint Francis earlier in the week, the Huntington softball team made the short trip to Cougar Field on Thursday and came away with a split, winning the opener 8-6 before falling 7-4 in the nightcap. With the results, HU claims the season series 3-1 over their Crossroads League rivals.

The opener was a back-and-forth battle early, with the lead changing hands three times through the first three innings. The Foresters finally seized control in the fourth, scoring four runs and never looking back.

HU plated seven of their eight runs over two big innings. In the third, Gena Moore ignited the offense with an RBI-single down the left field line. Maddie Goheen and Maddie Duvall followed with run-scoring hits of their own to give the visitors a 3-2 lead.

Moore sparked another rally in the fourth with an RBI-single to left. Duvall picked up her second RBI on a fielder’s choice and later scored, along with Moore, on a clutch single by Khloee Gregory. Jess Duvall added an RBI-groundout in the fifth to extend the lead to 8-4.

Saint Francis threatened in the bottom of the fifth, loading the bases with no outs and scoring two runs. But HU’s defense came up huge, turning a double play and striking out the final batter of the inning to escape the jam with minimal damage.

Maddie Turner went the distance in the circle, scattering 12 hits while allowing six runs, five earned, and striking out three to claim the win.

Defensive miscues cost the Foresters in the nightcap, with five of the Cougars’ seven runs going down as unearned. Karlee Franklin bore the brunt, giving up six hits and a walk over 4.2 innings while striking out three in the loss that saw her charged with the five unearned runs.

HU led 2-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth, but USF flipped the script with a four-run inning fueled by Huntington errors. The Cougars added two more in the sixth on a two-run homer to make it 7-2.

Goheen stayed productive at the plate, driving in a run with a sacrifice fly in the first and adding an RBI-single in the fifth. Jess Duvall capped HU’s scoring with a two-run blast in the seventh, matching USF’s earlier homer.

With the split, the Foresters move to 31-16-1 overall and 20-13-1 in Crossroads League play. With just a doubleheader against Indiana Wesleyan remaining on the regular season slate, HU sits third in the standings, 1.5 games ahead of Saint Francis (25-17, 18-14).