ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Exciting might be an understatement.
The Flagler softball team made Wednesday's doubleheader sweep over Florida Southern one for the ages as the Saints turned a program-first triple play in the opening, 6-0, victory before capping the night at Flagler Field with a thrilling nine-inning, 9-8, walk-off win.
"These girls are working extremely hard and getting better every single day," Flagler head coach
Kathryn Geouge said, "and it's showing. Not a lot of teams ever turn a triple play and that's something this team will be able to say — they made history today!"
The Saints (10-4) will hit the road again for a four-game trip, which features a doubleheader at Albany State at 3 and 5:30 p.m. Saturday followed by another at Florida Tech Tuesday that is slated with start times of 4 and 6:30 p.m.
Flagler jumped on the Mocs (5-7) early in the opening game, where the Saints plated five runs over the first three innings. Three of those came in the second frame as
Brittney Rayfield (3-for-3) sliced through one of her three doubles to score her first of a trio of RBI.
Just after that monster inning, the Saints worked their magic defensively. It was
Alyssa Velez, who began the historic triple play as she snagged a hard-hit line drive down the third-base line and gunned it to
Morgan Murphy before the twin tagged second and tossed it over to her sister,
Natalie Murphy, at first base to complete the 5-6-3 triple play.
There was no stopping the Saints from there.
The Mocs attempted to, but
Kyra Gipson (W, 8-1) and Flagler had other plans. The senior pitcher was phenomenal in her game one victory, where she tossed the complete-game shutout and allowed just five hits while striking out seven.
She stepped right in when her teammates needed her most in the night cap. Coming in to begin extras after the walk-off hero
Morgan Murphy sent a two-run home run, scoring
Maria Kappos — who singled to begin the inning — to knot the score at 8-all, she was in control.
From there, Gipson struck out four more batters and
Morgan Murphy saved her pair of hits for the perfect time. Following
Kyleigh Taylor's fourth hit, which was highlighted by a double and home run, in the ninth inning,
Zoe Mooney replaced the slugger at first and then took second on a wild pitch.
Morgan Murphy wasn't far behind as the senior sliced a grounder through the left side, scoring a speedy Mooney from second base to cap off the historic night in the most fitting way: victorious.
"The second game definitely showed the grit this team has," Geouge said. "They are learning to be successful no matter the adversity they are facing and they are getting stronger from it. What I loved most about the second game was the commitment to our game plan.
"We knew in that last inning we just needed a base runner so Zoe could come in and do her job, and that is exactly what Kyleigh did: she got on base. Zoe smartly advancing on that pass ball put us in a great situation, and Morgan excelled at her job."
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