BOCA RATON, Fla. – In a seesaw battle, the Florida Atlantic University softball team topped Northern Illinois, 4-3, for the Owls' first win of the 2022 season on Saturday night.
The back-and-forth game was decided in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Owls trailed the Huskies, 3-2, when
Zoey Jones sparked the rally with a bloop single to center field. A passed ball advanced Jones to second, where she was pinch ran for by
Maddie Carlock.
Riley Ennis then put the ball in play, and the NIU second baseman tried to throw out Carlock who was going to third. The throw hit the sliding Carlock and trickled away, then Carlock went on to score to tie the game at three apiece.
Ennis advanced to second on the play, and after a groundout, up came
Olivia Peterson with two down. Peterson delivered in the clutch with an opposite-field single to right. The throw to home plate beat
Ennis, yet she avoided the tag with an acrobatic slide to put FAU on top.
Gabby Sacco slammed the door with a one-two-three seventh to lift FAU to its first win of the year.
Quick Hits
- Sacco earned her first career win in the circle with four strong innings in relief. The right-hander shut down the Huskies' bats and allowed only two hits with no runs.
- Lynn Gardner got the Owls on the board in the first inning with an RBI double
- Sommer Baker launched an RBI triple to right center in the second inning to give FAU a 2-1 lead
- Kaitlyn Cunningham and Caryssa Orland both went 1-3 with a run scored on the evening
- Abigail Morgan started for FAU in the circle and went three innings while striking out three
The Owls will wrap up the FAU First-Pitch Classic on Sunday. FAU is set to face Ohio State at noon then Bethune-Cookman at 2:30 p.m.
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