ST. AUGUSTINE —
Kyleigh Taylor kept her red-hot week going as she blasted two home runs in Flagler College's Peach Belt Conference-opening softball doubleheader split with Columbus State University Sunday at Flagler Field. The visiting Cougars took the first in a narrow 2-0 win before the Saints ran away with the 9-4 game two victory.
The PBC teams will play the rubber match at noon Monday in the first three-game series of the season for the Saints (12-9, 1-1 PBC) and second for CSU (10-10, 3-2).
It was a tale of two games as Flagler took a two-hit defeat to the Cougars' Hannah Rose Corbin (W, 8-3) and followed it up 10 hits that featured three homers. Taylor continues to move herself up the record book as her first home run put her in sole possession of third place, and then her second placed her in a two-way tie for second with 21 career home runs and nine on the season. The senior catcher is now four homers away from tying the single-season record (13).
Taylor was responsible for both runs scored through three innings as her homer was the first before a bloop single brought
Paige Maseda home to come within a run. The Saints were able to come within the one-run deficit after
Madelyn Wise (W, 5-4) worked through a bases-loaded, third-inning jam, where she allowed just one run. Overall, Wise allowed four runs on 12 hits to earn the win as Hester relieved her in the fifth and helped the senior escape, with no damage done. The freshman righty earned her third save in a near flawless 2.2 innings that saw just one hit; meanwhile, her defense — led by
Ari Bosch and
Alyssa Velez — snagged would-be hits for key outs.
Over the last three innings, the Saints scored seven runs on reliever Jessica Lopez (L, 1-4) with five coming in the fifth thanks to a few errors and Maseda's RBI-single,
Lucy Giebeig scoring on a wild pitch and lastly, Taylor's three-run blast — that came after the wild pitch and near caught foul ball — to put the Saints up big.
Olivia Parker saw her first collegiate home run exit the field in the fifth, while Maseda scored her third run thanks to a wild pitch in the sixth to cap the nine-run victory.
Valerie Beltre joined Maseda with two hits, while Taylor led the way with three hits and five RBI. Parker had two walks to pair with her solo blast.
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