SOFTBALL

The Huntington softball came up short Friday night at Westendorf Field to suffer a pair to Saint Francis, 4-0, 9-8, to drop to 17-29 overall, 13-21 in CL action. The Foresters remain in the No. 6 spot in the league standings with one more doubleheader to be played before postseason play.

The Foresters struggled at the plate in game one, never piecing together multiple hits in a frame to finish with just five base pokes on the afternoon. Meanwhile, the Cougars (25-23, 16-17) hammered out nine hits to find home twice in the third and then Madi Schwartz smacked one out of the park in the fifth with a runner on to double the lead.

MacKyndsea Burke spent the first three frames in the circle to be charged with the loss, giving up six hits and two runs while striking out one.

The nightcap was taking shape to be a repeat of game one as USF raced out to a 6-0 lead while holding their visitors scoreless through the first five innings. But the Foresters finally got things going in the sixth thanks to a pair of RBI-doubles by Jada Crofoot and Joelle Beals to inch closer to the Cougars.

Crofoot was back at it in the seventh with another run-scoring double, this time knocking in two runs, before tagging up on Beachy’s sacrifice fly a few batters later to touch home herself. It forced a 6-6 stalemate and sent the game to extra innings.

Gower’s crew kept things rolling with yet another RBI-double, the Foresters’ fourth of the contest, at the bat of Megan Prater to surge ahead for the first time at 8-6. Unfortunately, USF had the last say and made sure to make the most of it. After Breanna Pryor doubled in a pair of runs, things continued to fall in place for the hosts as the game-winner eventually came by way of hit batsman with bases loaded.

Burke, who tossed the first five frames, re-entered in the eighth to eventually be tagged with her second loss of the day. She surrendered 11 hits, seven runs, five of which were earned, and two walks.

The Foresters wrap up the regular season tomorrow by hosting #2 Marian at 1:00 p.m.