Ravens Advance Past Panthers in HCAC Tournament with Late Surge

The Anderson University softball team went 1-1 in the first day of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) Tournament on Thursday in Lexington, Ky.

Second-seeded Mount St. Joseph University (28-8) secured a 6-0 win against third-seeded Anderson (14-20). The Ravens then put together a late surge to rally past fourth-seeded Hanover College (12-19) with a 6-5 victory.

GAME 1: MOUNT ST. JOSEPH 6, ANDERSON 0

"We played very young against Mount St. Joseph," Coach Tony Holloway said.

Maiah Hodge belted a two-run single in the bottom the second inning to give the Lions a 2-0 lead.

Brooke Otto singled in a run during the third.

Gracie Woodyard contributed a run-scoring single in the fourth. She scored in the same inning off a passed ball to give Mount St. Joseph a 5-0 lead.

Casey Bramble ripped an RBI double in the fifth.

Ashley Wheeler (Mahomet, Ill./Mahomet-Seymour) to lead the Ravens. Jayden Brown (Pendleton, Ind./Pendleton Heights) turned in a double while Chloe Closser (Pendleton, Ind./Pendleton Heights) rounded out Anderson's four hits with a single. Ally Hall (Pendleton, Ind./Pendleton Heights) and Mickala Winans (Anderson, Ind./Pendleton Heights) each drew two walks.

Bramble produced an RBI double, going 2-for-3 at the plate. Hodge finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs while Sarah Miller went 2-for-3. Mount St. Joseph tallied 10 hits.

Miller (14-3) collected the win for the Lions. She struck out four batters, issued two walks and allowed zero runs on three hits in four innings. Kamryn McCool picked up her third save of the season. She punched out two batters, yielded two walks and gave up zero runs on on one hit in three innings.

Alexis Kern (Elkhart, Ind./Concord) (5-7) suffered the loss. She struck out two batters, issued zero walks and scattered five runs (four earned) on eight hits in three and one-third inning. Aimee Cook (Anderson, Ind./Anderson Preparatory Academy) walked zero batters and gave up one run on two hits in two and two-thirds innings.

GAME 2: ANDERSON 6, HANOVER 5

Lily Beurman drove in a run off a single in the top of the first to put Hanover on the board.

During the top of the third, Mackenzie Smith singled in a run and Ava Hilgenhold drove in Kendra Hitchinson on a sacrifice fly to put the Panthers ahead 3-0.

In the bottom half of the inning, Hall recorded an RBI single for the Ravens.

Hanover extended its lead in the top of the fifth to 5-1 when Rachel Cox singled in Katherine Dickinson and Hilgenhold scored off an error on the same play.

Anderson erased its deficit by scoring four runs in the bottom of the fifth. Brown contributed an RBI double, Hall cracked a two-run single and Wheeler singled in a run to tie the game at 5-all.

Brown singled in a run in the sixth to put the Ravens ahead by one.

Starting her second game of the day, Kern recorded the win. She fanned one batter, yielded three walks and gave up five runs (three earned) on 11 hits in seven innings.

"I want to tip my hat to Alexis Kern for the way she pitched in the second game after starting the first game. She hasn't [started two games in one day] since high school."

Brown went 3-for-4 with a triple, a double and two RBIs.

"Jayden Brown had a big second game."

Wheeler finished 2-for-3 with a double. The freshman from Mahomet, Ill. closed out the day 4-for-6 with two doubles.

"Ashley Wheeler was strong for us all day at the plate. For a young hitter to break out in the conference tournament, she could not have picked a better time to do so."

Hall went 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Closser, Faith Muterspaugh (Middletown, Ind./Shenandoah) and Samantha Herron (Muncie, Ind./Delta) rounded out Anderson's 12 hits with singles.

Buerman finished 2-for-3 for the Panthers while Kensie Bradley and Dickenson each went 2-for-4 at the plate. Hanover produced 11 hits.

Buerman (8-10) was tagged with the loss. She fanned seven batters, yielded zero walks and surrendered six runs on 12 hits in six innings.

UP NEXT

Anderson takes on fifth-seeded Franklin College (20-14) on Friday at 1:30 p.m. The winner will also play a game at 4 p.m. Top-seeded Transylvania University (27-8) and second-seeded Mount St. Joseph University (28-8) clash at 11 a.m. The 4 p.m. game will consist of the winner of the Anderson-Franklin game and the loser of the Transylvania-Mount St. Joseph game. Transylvania is ranked No. 23 in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) NCAA Division III poll.