Anderson Crushes Rose-Hulman

The Anderson University softball team picked up a series win on Saturday, defeating the Fightin' Engineers of Rose-Hulman in back-to-back Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference games at the Raven Softball Field.

The Ravens moved to 10-17, 6-5 after picking up a 14-2 win in five innings in game one and a 6-2 win in game two. The Fightin' Engineers fell to 9-21 and 3-8 on the season.

GAME ONE: ANDERSON 14, ROSE-HULMAN 2 (F/5)

After falling 1-0 in the top of the first inning, the Ravens were hot off the bat. Jayden Brown singled to center field, bringing in Ally Hall to tie up the game 1-1. Kyleigh Lowry followed with a single to left field, Taylor Johnson scored. A wild pitch then sent Brown home. A left field single by Alysa Marcin scored Lowry. The Ravens final run of the inning came as Marcin made it home off an Mickala Winans single to center field. The Ravens lead 5-1 at the end of the first inning

The second inning saw three runs total, with the Ravens bringing in two. A sac fly gave the Fightin' Engineers their second and final run of the game. With the Ravens up to bat, a Faith Muterspaugh single allowed Hall to score. Marcin followed with a single of her own, bringing in Johnson to make it a 7-2 ball-game. The third inning went scoreless for the two teams.

In the bottom of the fourth, seven Ravens made it home. The runs started off with a Lowry double, allowing Brown to score. The Ravens would go down 2-0 on the count with two pop outs. Winans then answered for the Ravens, singling to bring in Rankin and Lowry, making it a 10-2 game. Samantha Herron immediately followed with a single of her own, scoring Winans. Herron would go on to score two pitches later on a Johnson single. The Ravens final runs of the game came when Johnson and Hall both scored on a fielding error. 

Lexi Rankin pitched 5 innings, allowing only five hits and two runs on the 24 batters she faced while striking out two Fightin' Engineers. Rankin improved her record to 4-8.

GAME TWO: ANDERSON 6, ROSE-HULMAN 2

Game two saw neither team get on the board through the first 2.5 innings. A Brown single loaded the bases and brought in Winans. Lowry then followed with a single of her own, allowing Herron to score. The Ravens took a 2-0 lead heading into the fourth inning.

The Ravens answered with two more runs in the bottom of the fourth. The first came when Winans scored off a Johnson single to down the third base line. In a bases loaded situation, Lowry was hit by the pitch, shifting the base runners and sending home Herron. The inning would end with the Ravens up 4-0.

The fifth inning saw the Ravens' final two runs of the day. A Herron double brought on two errors on the Fightin' Engineers' end, allowing Winans and Herron to score and making it a 6-0 ball game.

Both teams would go scoreless in the sixth inning. The Fightin' Engineers' two runs came in the top of the seventh inning. The next two batters would pop out and the Ravens were victorious for the second time for the day.

Alexis Kern ended the day with 25 batters faced in seven innings. She allowed four hits and two runs while striking out three batter. Kern improved her record to 4-6 on the season.

The Ravens will be back in action Sunday. They welcome the Beavers of Bluffton University (6-25, 3-11) to the Raven Softball Field for a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader and their final home games of the 2021 regular season. Game one is set for 1PM with game two to follow.