Kansas City
Indiana State
Kansas City Shuns a Seventh Inning Rally by Indiana State to Win, 5-3
2/23/2013 3:16:00 PM | Softball
(Southaven, Miss.) - Saturday afternoon, in the first game of a doubleheader, the Kansas City Kangaroos (4-7) held off a seventh inning rally by the Indiana State Sycamores (7-6) to come away with a 5-3 victory in day two of the Blues City Classic.
With this win, the Kangaroos ended a six-game skid as their last victory came against Maine on Feb. 10 in the Upstate State Classic, 9-3.
In Saturday's contest, Kansas City led off the first inning with infielder's Jenna Rangel (hit by pitch) and Liz Broyles (single) getting on base. Next up, after infielder Marlee Maples grounded out as both runners moved to second and third, designated hitter Emily Ott RBI-singled to left and later advanced to second as Rangel scored to give UMKC an early 1-0 lead.
But, Indiana State tied the game later in the inning after infielder Alexa Cavin scored from third after an error by the 'Roos.
In the fourth, same score, both squads traded runs again to knot the game at two as Kansas City's Kelsey Dean RBI-doubled to left to bring in catcher Caitlin Christopher from second, while Indiana State's Kelsey Montgomery drove in infielder Megan Stone from third on a fielder's choice.
Although, Kansas City regained the lead in the fourth and did not look back. To begin the inning, Rangel and Broyles led off with back-to-back singles. Later in the fourth, with runners in scoring position and two outs, infielder Katie Kelley RBI-singled to short as Maples scored from third to make it a 3-2 ball game.
In the seventh, with Kansas City still leading 3-2, the Kangaroos added to their lead when Ott RBI-singled to left-center and later advanced to second as two runners came around to score.
Yet, the Sycamores did not go down without a fight in the final inning. With runners at the corners and one out, infielder Shelby Wilson singled to left to bring in a run as Kansas City's lead was cut to two, followed by pitcher Deanna Friese (3-3) walking the next batter to load the bases.
However, Kansas City's defense held steady by retiring the next two batters with a Friese struck out and Montgomery lining out to Broyles at short to seal the 5-3 victory.
At game's end, the Kangaroo offense tallied 12 hits, led by Broyles going 4-for-4 at the plate. Also, Ott went 2-for-4 with three RBI, while Dean chipped in with a 2-for-3 performance to go along with an RBI and a stolen base.
In the circle, meanwhile, Friese struck out 11 batters for the second time this season and allowed seven hits while surrendering three walks.
Up next, the Blue & Gold will be in action later today at 6:30 p.m. against Belmont.
