SAINT LEO, Fla. — With two outs and a runner in scoring position, the Saint Leo University Lions singled and sent the go-ahead run home with the intent to knot the score at 1-all in the bottom of the seventh.
Flagler College's
Paige Maseda had other plans as she gunned down the runner and
Kyleigh Taylor positioned herself for the perfect tag at home to solidify the 1-0 victory at the University Softball Stadium Wednesday.
The doubleheader split, dropping the first 5-1 and following it up with the thrilling 1-0 finish, marks
Kathryn Grant's first win over Saint Leo in her career at Flagler. It improved the Saints to 21-19 on the season with a game-three Peach Belt Conference series at Georgia College, beginning with a doubleheader Friday at 3 p.m.
Flagler bounced back from a three-hit game one loss with a gem from pitcher
Madelyn Wise (W, 8-6) in the night cap. The junior righty tossed a complete-game shutout, where she allowed just five hits with two coming in the seventh inning. She retired 10 of 12 batters to end the game that Taylor started with an RBI-single and ended with the tag at home plate to secure the victory Maseda made possible with her heroics in left field.
All three of the Saints' hits in game two came in the first inning thanks to singles from
Courtney Robinson,
Madelyn Childs and Taylor's RBI-single. Rachel Bean (L, 8-4) closed out the Saints the rest of the way; however, Wise had one up on her with no runs allowed on five hits while striking out seven.
In this twinbill, who scored first was the beneficiary. The Lions (22-15) spotted five runs through the first two innings in game one against
Rachel Hester (L, 10-8) and it was the cushion Morgan Shannon (W, 8-5) needed to seal the win. Flagler scored one in the fourth via an error to allow
Gianna Amundsen to reach and
Alyssa Velez to score, but it was the only run to pass as the Saints left the bases loaded.
Olivia Parker, Maseda and Velez were responsible for the three hits as the Lions connected on 11 hits for the five runs, though Hester didn't allow another run after the second frame.
Be the first to know what's going on with the Saints -- Follow @FlaglerSports on Twitter, follow FlaglerSports on Instagram, become a fan of Flagler College Athletics on Facebook and subscribe to the Flagler College Athletics e-newsletter to receive the latest news, schedule updates and to interact with Flagler Athletics.
