Army Splits Versus SC-Upstate, Fort Wayne

Friday, March 10

Clearwater, Fla.

4:30 PM

Army West Point

11-5

South Carolina-Upstate

20-3

SC-Upstate

Army West Point

Army Splits Versus SC-Upstate, Fort Wayne

March 10, 2017 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

CLEARWATER, Fla. –The Army West Point softball team opened the USF Under Armour Showcase with a 2-1 setback against South Carolina-Upstate before topping Fort Wayne, 13-8, on Friday at the Eddie C. Moore Softball Complex.

The Black Knights moved to 12-5, while the Trojans improved to 20-3 and the Mastodons dropped to 3-18.

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

Army saw its 11-game winning streak come to an end against USC-Upstate, making it tied for the fourth-longest for the Black Knights as a Division I program.
Upstate improved to 2-0 all-time against Army, while the Cadets took the first-ever meeting against the Mastodons.
Freshman Lacey Swafford and junior Emily Gray led the Black Knights with three hits apiece on the day with Swafford contributing a pair of doubles in game one.
Sophomore pitcher Renee Poirier recorded her 13th-career save against Fort Wayne, making her the all-time leader in saves for both Army and the Patriot League.
Freshman Emily Ballesteros has stretched her hitting streak to 10 games, while Katie Ontiveros has reached base safely in each of the last seven games.
Army tied its season-best with seven runs in the second inning against Fort Wayne.
Ontiveros drove in four runs in the second game of the day, tying for the season-best mark with Ashley Yoo who accomplished the feat against Fairfield on March 5.
Five Cadets recorded multi-hit games today.

LINEUP BREAKDOWN vs. SOUTH CAROLINA-UPSTATE
Yoo (2B): 1-for-4
Swafford (LF): 2-for-4 with two doubles
Ballesteros (3B): 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI
Kim (C): 1-for-3
Trotter (RF): 0-for-3
Ontiveros (DP): 0-for-2
Rashenskas (SS): 1-for-2 with a walk
Gray (1B): 1-for-3 with a run scored
West (P): 0-for-2

Poirier (P): 0-for-1

McKinney (CF): N/A

West (P): 5.0 innings, three hits, two runs (earned), six walks and one strikeout
Poirier (P): 2.0 innings, 0 hits, 0 runs, one walk and 0 strikeouts

FACTS & FIGURES

The Black Knights mounted one run on seven hits and no errors, while the Trojans notched two runs on four hits without committing an error.

HOW IT HAPPENED vs. SOUTH CAROLINA-UPSTATE

USC-Upstate jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after a leadoff triple set up a sacrifice fly opportunity.
Army would get a runner to at least second base in each of the first three innings, due in large part to the bat of lefty Lacey Swafford recording a pair of doubles.
The Trojans added their second run on a one-out double that allowed their baserunner to score from first after drawing a free pass.
Army was finally able to push across its first run of the game in the seventh inning after an Emily Gray two-bagger started things in the frame.
Gray advanced to third on a single by Ashley Yoo and scored on a single by Emily Ballesteros.
Yoo moved up to third on the play to put the game-tying run 60 feet from home with two outs on the Ballesteros single, but her over-aggressiveness would get the best of her as she was picked off to end the game.

LINEUP BREAKDOWN vs. FORT WAYNE
Yoo (2B/CF): 1-for-3 with a walk

Hoover (PH): 0-for-1

Swafford (LF): 1-for-3 with a walk, two runs scored and an RBI
Ballesteros (3B): 1-for-4 with a walk, two runs scored and an RBI
Kim (DP): 1-for-2 with a run scored and an RBI

Cole (PH/DP): 0-for-1 with a walk, hit by pitch and a run scored

Ontiveros (C): 2-for-3 with a walk, a run scored and four RBIs

Hartman (C): 0-for-1

Rashenskas (SS/2B): 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored

Harrison (PH): 1-for-1

Gray (1B): 2-for-4 with a walk, a run scored and an RBI
Trotter (RF): 2-for-4 with a double, two runs scored and an RBI
Smith (P): 1-for-2 with a run scored and an RBI

Esparza-Gallegos (SS): 0-for-1 with a walk and a run scored

McKinney (CF): N/A

Newbary (P): N/A
Poirier (P): N/A

West (P): 3.0 innings, four hits, two runs (earned), 0 walks and 0 strikeouts
Newbary (P): 1.2 innings, six hits, five runs (earned), one walk and three strikeouts
Poirier (P): 2.1 innings, two hits, one run (earned), two walks and 0 strikeouts

FACTS & FIGURES

Army notched season-highs in runs and hits with 13 and committed one error, while Fort Wayne scored eight runs on 12 hits and had three errors.

HOW IT HAPPENED vs. FORT WAYNE

After an uneventful first inning, the Black Knights scored seven runs in the second inning, matching the second inning of the March 4 game against George Mason for the highest run total in a single inning all season.
The second frame started off with Katie Ontiveros reaching on an error, followed by an Alee Rashenskas walk.
Freshman Amelia Trotter double to left field to score Ontiveros as the first run of the game.
Pitcher Caroline Smith helped out her own cause in the next at-bat with a single that plated Rashenskas.
The next two runs of the inning came when Lacey Swafford reached on an error.
After a walk by Emily Ballesteros, back-to-back singles by Maddie Kim and Ontiveros plated Swafford, Kim and Ballesteros.
Smith returned to the circle with her second one-two-three inning of the game in the bottom half of the frame.
Fort Wayne got on the board after consecutive singles set up a sacrifice fly situation.
The Mastodons tallied their second run of the third inning with an RBI single by Kelly Pevely.
After Army received walks from Swafford and Madison Cole in the top of the fourth, Fort Wayne continued to chip away at the deficit by scoring its third run of the game on a two-out RBI single to make the score 7-3.
The Black Knights responded with a pair of runs of their own as Emily Gray and Trotter led off the inning with a pair of singles.
Ashley Yoo singled to right before an error by Fort Wayne allowed Gray to score on the play.
Swafford hit a sacrifice fly that scored Trotter to make it a 9-3 game.
Fort Wayne surged offensively in the bottom of the fifth, scoring four runs as it batted around its lineup.
The Mastodons would add another run in the sixth to make it a one-run game.
Army gave itself a cushion heading into the bottom of the seventh, however, as four runs allowed the Black Knights to take a 13-8 lead.
The first run of the inning came on a Ballesteros single up the middle that scored Gladys Esparza-Gallegos, while the next two came on an Ontiveros hit.
Rashenskas and Gray both joined the hit parade to put the game out of reach and set up the victory for the Cadets.