ST. AUGUSTINE — The Flagler College softball team got a long-awaited happy ending to its three-game Peach Belt Conference series with Lander University Saturday afternoon.
As four hours approached in the program's second-longest game ever,
Ari Bosch clobbered a 13th-inning, two-out ball up and over the left field fence to send the Saints past Lander, 9-6, and salvage the final game after dropping the first two — 4-0 Friday and 7-2 earlier Saturday — at Flagler Field.
The Saints finish their third PBC series at 16-14 and 4-5 in conference play, while Lander moved to 26-6 and 8-4. Flagler will play a midweek doubleheader Wednesday versus Palm Beach Atlantic University, beginning at 1 p.m. back at Flagler Field.
The walk-off home run marked Bosch's second game-winning blast of the season as it was her second homer in the final game Saturday. In the 9-6 game three win, the freshman batted in seven of nine runs with the other four coming via a grand slam in the Saints' lead-taking, six-run third frame to end Liz Gollin's day in the circle. Those seven RBI are the most in a single game in program history, snapping six set by
Morgan Murphy in 2018.
Rachel Boesen, who tossed a three-hit shutout Friday, replaced Gollin and the Saints were able to get the best of her this time around as they scored four runs on seven hits.
Meanwhile, for the Saints in the circle,
Taylor Scott was clutch behind the senior's 13 innings pitched, which saw her allow six runs on 17 hits while striking out six and walking just one. She only allowed one hit over the final six innings as the 13 frames were the second-most innings pitched in a single game since 2011, when 14.1 innings were tossed versus North Georgia.
Bosch led the Saints with four hits in seven at-bats as
Madelyn Childs had three and
Kyleigh Taylor had a pair. Childs had a solid Saturday back in the lineup after a brief hiatus as she paired her three hits in the final game with a two-run home run — the Saints' lone runs in the second game — to give her four hits on the afternoon Saturday.
Taylor was responsible for three walks; meanwhile
Paige Maseda scored two runs alike Taylor and Bosch. Taylor and Maseda recorded their RBI in the third inning as Taylor singled in Maseda (hit by pitch) before the Bosch grand slam, whereas Maseda knocked in a sac fly after the bases-clearing home run that brought the top of the third-inning order back around.
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