COLUMBUS, GA. – The Sagehens fell to Denison with a 1-9 final in game one and Pfeiffer University 2-7 in the final day of the NFCA DIII Leadoff Classic.
Season Impact: With the losses, the Sagehens record is now to 3–10 overall and 1–2 in SCIAC play.
Game One
Sagehens 1, Denison 9
The Sagehens saw three hits in the contest with Yuri Song Kylie Liu and Summer Gibson each adding a hit. Gianna Phillips drove in the only run for the Sagehens. The Sagehens used three pitchers in the contest. Audrey Reimers started in the circle, throwing one inning, Mia Lopez pitched 3.2 innings, while Ava Bautista also appeared in relief. The Sagehens struck first in the opening inning. Song reached on an error and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Sadie Huryn before Liu singled to put runners on the corners. Phillips followed with a sacrifice fly to bring Song home and give the Sagehens an early 1–0 lead. Denison responded in the bottom of the first and gave Denison the 3–1 lead. After several scoreless innings, Denison added to its advantage in the fourth making it 4–1. The Big Red broke the game open in the fifth scoring five runs in the inning and sealing a 9–1 mercy-rule victory.
Game Two
Sagehens 2, Pfeiffer University 7
The Sagehens notched three hits in the game, one from Yuri Song, Sadie Huryn and Summer Gibson. Giana Phillips had brought one run in. Ava Bautista started in the circle for the Sagehens throwing 3.2 innings, striking out three batters. Nyla Springer came in to pitch after and threw one inning while Audrey Reimers appeared in relief striking out two batters in 2.1 innings. The Sagehens struck first in the opening inning. Song doubled through the left side before Huryn laid down a bunt single. Huryn then stole second while Song stole home to give the Sagehens a 1–0 lead. Later in the inning, Phillips reached on a throwing error by the shortstop, allowing Huryn to score and extend the lead to 2–0. Pfeiffer answered in the second inning to cut the deficit to 2–1 and tied the game in the third. Pfeiffer took the lead in the fourth inning and added another run in the fifth to make it 4–2. The offense struggled for the Sagehens while Pfeiffer's bats stayed hot giving them a 7–2 victory.
Up Next: The Sagehens return home to play a double header against Pacific Lutheran University on March 13 at 12:00 PM and 2:00 PM.