Alice Lloyd Softball remains hot, sweeps Berea College

Pippa Passes, KY: The Alice Lloyd College Lady Eagles (12-8) returned home to face NCAA DIII opponent Berea College. The Eagles controlled both contests at the plate and mound to extend their win streak to five games and take out the Mountaineers (2-10).

 March 18th

Game 1

Alice Lloyd-8:  BC-0

Senior hurler Maleigh McDaniel (P) tossed a dominant no-hitter to lead the hosts to the opening-game victory.

In the first inning, ALC received a double from Mckenzie Orfield (3B) and combined that with a pair of Mountaineer errors to sprint ahead, 4-0.

Over the next three innings, BC continued to go down in order as McDaniel was on top of her game at the mound. In the fourth, the Central Kentucky crew finally had a batter reach on an error, but a pop-up and strikeout would leave them scoreless.

In the bottom of inning five, Orfield, McDaniel, and Ellie Keene (C) all singled to bring a run home (5-0). Then, Lauren Morris (SS) singled to load the bases. Finally, with the bases full, Carlee Muncy (1B), cleared them with a smash to end the festivities.

At the plate, ALC saw Orfield and Keene each stick a pair of hits. Muncy's 3 RBIs led in that department.

McDaniel earned the pitching victory, hurling a no-hit shutout with 6 strikeouts in a dominant performance. She only faced 16 batters in five innings as the only BC runner to reach base achieved that because of an error.

The Eagles took the hitting contest 8-0 as well as committed fewer errors, 7-2.

GAME 2

Alice Lloyd- 9; BC-1

The Lady Eagles showcased their outstanding pitching for the second straight game while dominating once more at the plate to earn the impressive sweep.

Neither club would score in the first inning, as freshman sensation Arin Rife opened on the mound for the Kentucky ladies. But in the Alice Lloyd second, Morris would open with a single and stolen base. She would eventually score on a ground-out to give the Pippa Passes posse a 1-0 advantage.

In the Eagle third, a BC error, consecutive doubles from Rachel Rife (LF) and Keene, and a timely single delivered by Audrey Mowell (2B) led to 5 huge scores. Quickly, the hosts led 6-0.

In the very next inning, the Mountaineers got their only hit of the day in the form of a single. Then after a wild pitch and passed ball advanced the runner to third, a ground-out delivered her home, 6-1.

However, this only served to rile up the Caney Creek clubbers because, in the bottom half of the inning, ALC answered with a flurry. This happened when  R. Rife singled, Orfield doubled, and McDaniel walked and stole second. Then, Arin Rife (P) singled, and the Lady Eagles later stole 2 more bases. When the dust eventually settled, 3 more runs had raced home to make the score 9-1.

Finally, ace-reliever Kirsten Vice took the mound in the fifth and promptly mowed the Mountaineers down in order to put an exclamation point on the big day.

At the plate, A.Rife would deliver 2 hits while Mowell paved the way with 2 RBIs.

A. Rife earned the pitching victory. In four innings, she gave up only 1 earned run on 1 hit while striking out 6 of the 13 batters she faced. Vice went the final inning, retiring the visitors in one-two-three succession.

The blue and white won the hitting war, 8-1, and played an error-free game, compared to the Mounties with 3.