NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. - The Manchester softball team opened Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) play with two wins over Hanover College on Saturday, March 30.
The Black & Gold earned an exciting 5-4 victory in 8 innings in game one on Saturday. Manchester followed by an 8-2 win in game two.
GAME 1: MANCHESTER 5, HANOVER 4 (8 INNINGS)
- After Hanover took a 3-0 lead in the first four innings of Saturday's opening game, the Spartans put four runs on the board to grab the one run lead.Â
- The Panthers would tie the game up at 4-4 in the top of the fifth and force the game into extra innings.
- In the bottom of the 8th inning, Kendal Rider (Otterbein, Ind., Lafayette Central Catholic) singled on a bunt, scoring Erin Singleton (Brownstown, Ind. , Brownstown Central ) from second base to give Manchester the 5-4 win. In game one, Rider went 2-3 at the plate with 2 RBI and a walk.
- As a team, the Spartans had 11 hits in game one, including extra-base hits by Kaitlyn Carr (Valparaiso, Ind., Chesterton) and Crystal Cooke (Richmond, Ky., Madison Southern).
- Carr started on the mound for Manchester, scattering six hits through 4.0 innings with two strikeouts.
- Brionna Egold (Greencastle, Ind., South Putnam) threw 4.0 innings of relief, holding Hanover to three hits with five strikeouts.
GAME 2: MANCHESTER 8, HANOVER 2
- Manchester opened game two with an RBI single by Crystal Cooke to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead in the 1st inning.
- The Black and Gold would score seven more runs to take game two 8-2 and complete the series sweep.
- As a team, Manchester had nine hits in game two, including an extra-base hit from both Izzy Dittmar (Warsaw, Ind., Warsaw Community) and Kendal Rider. On the day, Dittmar went 4-8 at the plate with two runs scored, while Lexi Goodman (Poplar, Ill. , North Boone ) went 3-6 at the plate with two runs scored and two stolen bases.
- Lizzy Willis (Yorktown, Ind., Yorktown) pitched 5.1 innings, getting the start on the mound for Manchester in game two. Willis held Hanover to two runs and collected one strikeout.
- Egold threw 1.2 innings of relief in game two, holding Hanover to no hits and no runs.Â
UP NEXT
- Manchester softball moved their non-conference doubleheader against the University of Olivet scheduled for Tuesday, April 2 to Friday, April 5.Â
- Game one is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at the MU Softball Field.