CLERMONT, Fla. - The Elmhurst University softball team posted a 2-1 record over three games on its Florida road trip on Saturday. The Bluejays defeated Westminster College (Mo.) and Colby College before falling 2-1 to nationally-ranked Tufts University.
ELMHURST 11, WESTMINSTER 0 - Elmhurst banged out nine hits and held Westminster to only two while picking up its first victory of the Florida road trip in an 11-0 win over Westminster.
Elmhurst scored five runs in the third to race out to an early lead.
Jamie Haas started the scoring with an RBI single.
Paige Pehlke drew a bases loaded walk to force in a run and
Jena Hicks followed with a two-run single to spark the Bluejays in the third. Elmhurst added six runs in the fourth.
Jackie Orel delivered the big blow in the inning with a three-run, bases-clearing double.
Orel led the Bluejays at the plate, finishing 2-for-3 with two runs scored and three driven in. Pehlke added two hits, scored a run and knocked in two.
Jamie Haas scored two runs and drove in a run.
Hicks improved to 3-2 after picking up the win. She worked all five innings, allowing just two hits while striking out five.
ELMHURST 4, COLBY 3 - Elmhurst scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to earn a 4-3 walkoff victory.
Colby jumped out to a 3-1 lead after six innings after scoring twice in the fifth and adding a run in the sixth. The Bluejays used three walks to load the bases in the seventh. Pehlke delivered a run-scoring single to pull Elmhurst to within one and keep the bases loaded. An error on Colby allowed the Bluejays to score the tying run. A botched pickoff play on Colby allowed the Bluejays to score the game-winning run and earn the victory.
Sydni Gizynski made the start and took a no-decision, working six innings and allowing just six hits and three unearned runs. She walked four and fanned two.
Karly Krown earned the win in relief, pitching a scoreless seventh inning and allowing just one walk while striking out one.
TUFTS 2, ELMHURST 1 - Elmhurst dropped a tightly-contested 2-1 decision to 10th-ranked Tufts to close out the day.
Tufts broke a scoreless tie with two runs in the bottom of the sixth. Elmhurst cut the lead in half in the seventh on a RBI single from Hicks, but Tufts held on for the 2-1 victory. Orel recorded two hits to lead Elmhurst at the plate.
Chiara O'Leary made the start and took a no-decision, working four innings and allowing three hits and one walk while striking out three.
Brianna Pisauro took the loss, allowing four hits and one earned run in two innings of work.