ABILENE, Texas - The Belhaven Softball team took to the road for a doubleheader against the Hardin-Simmons University Cowgirls in American Southwest Conference play on Friday, March 6.

Game One
The first game of the day saw the Blazers earn a hard fought 7-5 come-from-behind victory. The Cowgirls got out an early 1-0 lead with a solo run in the bottom of the first; however, the Blazers responded with four runs in the third inning as junior Abby Mondy got the Blazers offense going by drawing a walk. The bases were then loaded full of Blazers after senior Marlee Blackwell and junior Elizabeth Taggard were hit-by-pitch in back-to-back appearances. Sophomore Allie Gordon then smashed a go-ahead grand slam for her second home run of the season to give the Blazers a 4-1 lead.

The Cowgirls regained a one-run lead as they plated two runs in the bottom of the third and fourth innings, but once again the Blazers responded with a three run inning in the top of the sixth as freshman Madison Miller got the Blazers offense going with a triple down the right field line. Senior Hannah Finley was then hit-by-pitch as freshman May Hebert followed that up with a three-run home run, her first of the season, to give the Blazers a 7-5 lead. The Cowgirls threatened in the bottom of the seventh with two on and two out, but Finley slammed the door on the comeback effort getting the final out by fielding a slow-dribbling groundout and throwing it to first to seal the Blazers win.

Senior Bailey Root got the start in the circle for the Blazers, but only faced two batters walking both on eight straight pitches and gave up one run in the no-decision effort. Junior Dallas Blaker pitched three innnings of relief work allowing four runs on eight hits with with one strikeout and one walk, while junior Hannah Finley picked up the win improving to 2-0 on the season with four shutout innings of relief allowing four hits with two strikeouts.

Game Two
The Blazers pitched a shutout in game two, scoring in all but two innings for the 6-0 victory. Marlee Blackwell started the game off with a bang as she smashed a leadoff home run, her first of the season, to give the Blazers a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. The Blazers added another solo run in the second inning as senior Brittany Chetta reached on an infield single and then scored on an RBI double junior Marissa Rice increasing the Blazers lead to 2-0.

The Blazers plated another solo run in the fourth inning as Chetta drew a walk and then advanced to second on a single by Rice. Keirra Fair then came in as a pinch runner for Chetta, advanced to third on a throwing error, and then scored on an RBI single by junior Sarah Depperschmidt. Another solo run in the fifth inning for the Blazers gave them a 4-0 lead thanks to three consecutive singles by sophomore Haley Hanson, freshman Madison Miller and May Hebert, which plated Hanson for the run.

The final two runs for the Blazers came in the sixth inning as Rice drew a leadoff walk and then sophomore Elizabeth Platt was brought in as a pinch runner. Depperschmidt then reached on a fielder's choice as Platt was forced out at second. Depperschmidt then advanced to second after Elizabeth Taggard drew a walk and then scored as Allie Gordon reached on an error, while Taggard scored on an RBI single by Hanson giving the Blazers a 6-0 lead. The Cowgirls saw a late scoring threat in the seventh inning come to an end behind back-to-back ground outs sealing the victory and the sweep of the doubleheader for the Blazers.

Senior Kassie Shipley got the start and threw a complete game improving to 1-1 on the season. Shipley allowed eight hits with six strikeouts and one hit-by-pitch over her seven innings of work in the circle for the Blazers.

The Blazers improve to 8-3 overall and 6-2 in ASC play and will look for the series sweep as they face off against the Cowgirls in the third game of the series on Saturday, March 7, with first pitch planned for 12 p.m.

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