Friday, March 07, 2008

CLEARWATER, Fla. (Mar. 7, 2008) - The ETSU softball team went toe-to-toe with 13^th-ranked Baylor, but with the game tied at two in the top of the fifth the Bears broke things open, scoring six runs to come away with an 8-2 victory Friday afternoon in the Under Armour Invitational from the Eddie C. Moore Sports Complex.

The loss dropped the Lady Bucs' record to 7-12 on the campaign, while Baylor improved its mark to 14-3.

Baylor plated single runs in the second and third, but ETSU was lucky to only surrender the pair as the Bears left two runners stranded in both frames.

In the bottom half of third the Lady Buccaneers tied the game up at two. ETSU scored its first run when senior Briana Knight (Brier, Wash.) scored from second after Kate Powell (Johnson City) reached on an error. Sophomore Trisha Massenzo (Russellville, Tenn.) extended her hitting streak to seven consecutive games with her RBI single to center. Powell came around to score from second on the play. Unfortunately, for the Softball Bucs, they were held to only four hits for the remainder of the contest and could not push any more runs across the board.

After sending the Baylor hitters down in order in the fourth, the Bears attacked freshman Ashley Boyd (Chattanooga) for six runs on three hits. However, to Boyd's credit only two of those runs were earned as ETSU committed two errors in the fifth. Sophomore Marissa Hardy (Rocklin, Calif.) entered in relief and tossed 2.1 IP of scoreless ball. Hardy also struck out three Bear batters.

Boyd (2-3) suffered her third loss of the season as she was tagged for eight runs (four earned) and allowed 12 hits in 4.2 IP. Jenny Isham improved her mark to 7-1 after allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits in five innings.

For more information on Lady Buccaneer softball, visit www.ETSUBucs.com.