Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
Columbia
Softball Pulls Out Come-From-Behind Win Over Columbia
March 17, 2011 | Softball
KISSIMMEE, Fla. - Freshman shortstop April Ortenzo (3-for-4) tripled home a pair of runs in the fifth inning and scored the go-ahead run on Alex Reynolds' (2-for-4) run-scoring single as Army rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat Columbia, 3-2, Wednesday afternoon at the Rebel Spring Games.
The win was the second of the day following an 8-0 five inning shutout of St. Peter's as the Black Knights leveled their season mark at 7-7 and stand 3-1 in Florida.
Junior right-hander Shawna Bleyl stranded the tying run on third base in the bottom of the seventh inning with a strikeout, her third of the game, in improving to 2-4. After yielding four of her eight hits in a two-run fourth inning, Bleyl scattered two hits over the remaining three frames and allowed the Lions into scoring position just once, that in the seventh after giving up a leadoff hit to Morgan Cook. Cook moved around on a sacrifice bunt and fielder's choice before Bleyl nixed the Lions' comeback striking out Steph Yagi.
After falling behind 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth, Army rallied in the top of the fifth collecting four of its seven hits off Maggie Johnson, who did not allow the Black Knights into scoring position in the first three innings. After yielding a one-out double to Alexis AuBuchon in the top of the fourth inning, Johnson retired the side on back-to-back groundouts.
After strikeout out the first batter in Army's come-from-behind fifth inning, Johnson was touched for back-to-back singles by Clara Navarro and pinch hitter Meghan McGowan followed by a groundout. With two outs, Ortenzo smashed a triple (her second of the season) to left field to tie the score 2-2, then Reynolds provided Army with a 3-2 advantage when she chased home Ortenzo with a single to left field.
Ortenzo went 4-for-8 with four runs batted in and two runs scored in the two games on Wednesday, while Reynolds was 3-for7 with four RBI and one run scored.
The Black Knights will look to go over the .500 mark when they take on Siena and Hartford Thursday at 9 and 11 a.m., respectively.
