Army’s Late Surge Earns Midweek Split at Albany

Wednesday, April 17

Albany, N.Y.

2 PM

Army West Point

20-25

Albany

19-10

Army West Point

UAlbany

Carrie Reilly provided Army with a go-ahead two-run double in game two against Albany

Army’s Late Surge Earns Midweek Split at Albany

April 17, 2019 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

ALBANY, N.Y. – The Army West Point softball team erased a two-run deficit in the final inning of game two to earn a split in its midweek doubleheader at Albany on Wednesday.

The Black Knights dropped a 12-8 decision in a high-scoring first game before coming away with a 3-2 victory in the night cap.

Sophomore Taylor Drayton remained hot at the plate with her fourth-straight multi-hit performance in game one, launching a pair of home runs while driving in four runs and scoring three times. Sophomore Taylor Livingston earned a team-high three hits on the day, while senior Carrie Reilly and sophomore Ally Snelling provided Army with a pair of doubles. Sophomores Grace Mattimore and Megan Muffett also recorded two hits on the afternoon.

Rookie Jolie Duong was impressive in the circle during game two, scattering four hits and two runs (earned) over 7.0 innings of work. The Houston, Texas, native allowed just one walk while striking out five Great Danes.

GAME 1: Albany 12, Army 8
HOW IT HAPPENED

The Great Danes earned the first lead of the game after Katie Falotico plated Mariah Miramontez with a groundout to second in the opening frame.
Army provided a response in the top of the second by posting a 4-spot on three hits and three walks.
The Black Knights had their first five hitters reach base with Carrie Reilly drawing a bases-loaded walk to even the score.
Megan Muffett and Bianca Gonzalez provided back-to-back RBI singles before Ashley Yoo drove a sac fly to center for the final run of the inning to provide the visitors with a 4-1 advantage.
Albany trimmed the Army lead to one with a two-RBI single by Miramontez in the home half of the inning.
Taylor Drayton slugged her fifth home run of the season and second in as many weeks to add an insurance run for the Cadets in the top of the third to make it a 5-3 game.
The Great Danes answered with two more runs in the bottom of the frame to draw even at five apiece.
Drayton added her second long ball of the afternoon, this one plating three in the top of the fourth as Army recaptured the lead, 8-5.
Albany would go on to score the next seven runs, including six in the fourth inning, to secure the game one victory.

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

Drayton posted her first-career multi-home run game.
The Clayton, N.C., native now leads the squad with six homers.
She added her ninth multi-hit game of the season and fourth in-a-row.
Drayton tied her career-high with four RBI in the game, matching her total against the Great Danes on April 18 of last season.
It was the sixth time this season an Army player has recorded four or more RBI in a single game.
Drayton scored her team-leading 25th run of the season and drove in RBI number 20.
Poirier passed Carolyn Copcutt for fifth in program history in strikeouts (224) and ninth all-time in innings pitched (386.2).
The Plainville, Mass., native also moved ahead of Morgan Lashley for seventh in all-time appearances (102).
Reilly drew her 30th career walk.
Mattimore collected the 20th hit of her career.
Muffett tallied her 10th base hit of the year.

GAME 2: Army 3, Albany 2
HOW IT HAPPENED

Albany scratched across the first run of game two in the bottom of the first with an RBI single by Aliyah Wade.
The home side added to its lead in the third when Miramontez scored on a double steal to make it 2-0.
The Black Knights clawed back in the final inning and erased the two-run deficit to extend the game.
Army's five-hit seventh started with an Ally Snelling double to center before Duong advanced pinch runner Tessa Leman to third two batters later.
Katie Ontiveros got the Cadets on the board by stinging a single into center field and cut the Albany lead in half, 2-1.
Two batters later, Reilly gave Army its first lead of the game with a two-out, two-run double that plated Duong and pinch runner Annie Brock.
Duong took care of the rest by holding the Great Danes off the board in the home half of the frame to preserve the Army victory and force a split on the day.

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

Yoo documented her team-leading 40th base hit of the year.
The Yorba Linda, Calif., native added her 45th career base on balls.
Duong recorded her 80th strikeout of the season.
The Houston, Texas, native notched her team-best ninth win of the year.
She scored the 15th run of her rookie campaign.
Reilly notched the 95th hit of her career.
The Riverside, Ill., native collected her 15th career double.
She tallied her 45th career RBI and 15th of the season with her second multi-RBI effort in 2019.
Livingston contributed the 60th hit of her career.
The Huntington Beach, Calif., native produced her sixth multi-hit effort of the year.
Ontiveros drove in her fifth RBI of the season.

COACH'S CORNER

Interim head coach Bob Beretta – "I am very proud of the way this team battled in the seventh inning of the second game. We had a pretty rough go of things all day long, but we dug deep and found a way to pull out a victory. It was a great comeback win. Ally Snelling gave us a great start with a leadoff double and we got big hits from Jolie and Katie before Carrie's huge double. That's such a clutch hit, down to her final strike and with the team down to its final out. Stringing together five hits in the seventh against a pitcher that was really giving us trouble is a testament to the character of this club. It would have been easy to go down quietly in the seventh and take the loss, but we persevered and found a way to win.
"I thought Jolie was outstanding in the circle. She hung tough knowing we had little margin for error and gave our offense a chance to come back. Then she shut the door in the bottom of the inning to close out the win. We talk about overcoming adversity a lot, and I'd say we fought through an awful lot of that today. Hopefully, we can ride the momentum from that win into this weekend's series with Bucknell. We will have to be sparp in all facets of the game."

UP NEXT

The Black Knights return home for a three-game series against Patriot League foe Bucknell this weekend.
The series will begin with a doubleheader on Saturday before the finale on Sunday. Both days are slated to begin at noon.