Alice Lloyd softball concludes regular season, earns split with West Virginia Tech University

Pippa Passes, KY: On April 27th, the Alice Lloyd College Lady Eagles softball team returned home for the final time in 2024 as they played host to the West Virginia Tech Golden Bears. The hometown club battled intently and wound up with a split on the day. ALC's record now sits at 15-33 while WVT moves to 13-30.

Game 1

Alice Lloyd-4; WVT-0

Lady Eagle pitcher Maleigh McDaniel delivered a five-hit shutout to lead the hosts to an opening game victory.

The pitching was solid by both clubs through three innings, and McDaniel only allowed a pair of Golden Bear singles through four innings of work. In the bottom of that inning, the Pippa Passes posse finally broke the ice.

McDaniel started the ball rolling with a single. Later, singles courtesy of Chloe Taylor (2B) and right fielder Audrey Mowell, combined with a gift pair of errors from the Mountaineer club, propelled ALC to a 3-0 advantage.

ALC added to their lead in the fifth when Mckenzie Orfield (C) drove a fast ball over the left field wall to change the scoreboard to 4-0.

WV Tech got their only extra-base hit in their final opportunity, a two-out double, only to see McDaniel induce a game-inning popup to the infield that chalked the victory up in the Caney Creek ledger.

For the Eagles, Orfield and Taylor both finished 2-3, and joined Mowell with 1 RBI apiece.

On the mound, McDaniel was impressive, throwing a 5-hit shutout for the complete game win, striking out 2 batters and allowing 0 walks.

The Bluegrass club won the hitting battle, 8-2 and committed one less error, 2-1.

Game 2

Alice Lloyd-9; WVT-12 (8 Innings)

The Bluegrass ladies fell behind big, then mounted an incredible comeback before ultimately falling in extra-innings.

The Beckley, WV club would open the scoring in the third inning, plating a run on a double (1-0). Unfortunately, they were just beginning.

In the fourth, they extracted major damage as they uncorked a pair of doubles and back-to-back homers to deliver eight runs. The visitors suddenly led 9-0, but the Lady Eagle refused to roll over.

In the bottom half of the inning, a single from Rachel Rife (LF) and double from McDaniel cut the deficit to 9-2. Then, in the sixth, singles from Taylor and Carlee Muncy (1B), combined with a double from Mowell, delivered a trio of runs (9-5). Now the contest began to get even more interesting.

 Down to their last chance in the seventh, ALC saw Rife draw a leadoff walk. Then, the crowd was brought to their feet when McDaniel unloaded on a fastball and parked it over the center field fence to pull her crew even closer, at 9-7.

 The noise got even louder when an error, a single from Taylor, and consecutive ground-outs from Muncy and Ellie Hunt (DH) permitted a pair of runners to race home. Suddenly, with two away, the game was knotted at 9-9, and the hosts had the winning run on third base. Although a popup would end the inning, the Lady Eagles had new life.

To their credit, in the top of the eighth inning, Tech would use a triple and double to earn a trio of runs, and pull ahead once more, 12-9.

Now, forced to repeat the magic of the previous inning, the Pippa Passes ladies would maximize a gift walk and error from the Golden Bears to place a pair of runners on base, and bring the tying run to the plate. Unfortunately, a groundout would end the contest and give the West Virginia team the win.

For the game, ALC had 10 hits as Taylor finished 3-4, and McDaniel and Rife both went 2-5. McDaniel delivered 4 RBI's while Mowell added a pair to the cause.

On the mound for ALC, Kirsten Vice started and gave up 12 hits and 9 runs with 4 K's in 5 innings. She was relieved by Kinna Justice, who gave up just a pair of single in her two innings of work, striking out 1. Rylee Cox finished the contest and was credited with the loss. In her inning, she allowed 3 hits and 3 runs.

The Ohio club would make the most errors,4-1, but win the hitting battle 17-10