ST. AUGUSTINE –
Kyra Gipson (3-1) turned in a great pitching performance in the first game and it was a team effort in the second as Flagler College recorded two wins to open play in the Old Coast Classic Saturday afternoon at Flagler Field. The Saints beat Coker College 5-1 and then rolled to a 13-0 victory over Trinity Baptist College.
Flagler evens its record at 6-6 overall. Coker (8-1) suffered its first loss while Trinity Baptist (0-9) is still in search of its first win.
In the opener, Gipson retired the first 15 batters in a row and went on to allow just two hits and one run. She induced 15 ground outs along with three fly outs. Gipson also fanned three batters.
The Saints broke up a scoreless tie with a four-run fifth inning, thanks to a pair of Cobra errors.
Genevieve Mangini led off the inning by reaching first base after being hit by a pitch.
Morgan Murphy sacrificed her over to second, but the Coker second baseman had trouble holding on to the throw from the third baseman, which allowed Mangini to advance to third and Murphy was safe at first.
Christine Corver came on to pitch for Coker and retired the next two batters. Mangini scored on a ground out to give the Saints a 1-0 lead.
Megan Miller's single to left plated Murphy, and two batters later,
Tatum Morgan hit a two-run single to left.
The Cobras got a run back in the top of the sixth when Mindy North had a pinch-hit RBI single to right field.
Flagler answered in the bottom of the sixth as Murphy hit a two-out triple and scored on
Haley Kirinsky's single.
Morgan collected two singles and drove in two runs. Kirinsky knocked in two runs.
Taylor Forehand (0-1) started and took the loss in the circle for Coker. She surrendered two unearned runs on two hits to go along with four strikeouts.
Lilli Otten had the other hit for the Cobras.
In the second game, the Saints used an eight-run second inning to coast to a win over Trinity Baptist. Flagler sent 13 batters to the plate and had seven hits.
The inning started with back-to-back singles by Murphy and Kirinsky. Two batters later, Miller reached on an infield single, but an errant throw allowed Murphy to score and give Flagler a 2-0 lead.
Garland Evans followed with an RBI single. Later,
Jaclyn Mijuskovic capped the inning with a two-run single.
Flagler tacked on four more runs in the fourth and Trinity Baptist stranded a base runner in the fifth and the game was over via the run-rule.
Alayana Savaglio (2-3) tossed three scoreless innings and scattered two hits. She fanned five batters.
Brittney Rayfield finished up and allowed one hit with a pair of strikeouts.
Evans went 3-for-3 with a double, a run batted in, and she scored three runs. Murphy singled twice, scored two runs, and knocked in two more. Kirinsky singled twice, scored a run, and drove in another.
Lena Springer (0-8) took the loss for the Eagles. In three innings of work, she surrendered six earned runs on 13 hits.
Kazeria Odoms singled twice for Trinity Baptist of Jacksonville.
Flagler hosts Coker College in a doubleheader tomorrow starting at 11 a.m. at Flagler Field.
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