BOCA RATON, Fla. – University of Southern Indiana Softball split its two games on day two of the Florida Atlantic University Joan Joyce Classic on Saturday, earning a 4-2 win against the University of Massachusetts before a 7-1 loss in a rematch against Florida Atlantic.
USI Softball (2-9) started the day quickly with a first-inning run in the bottom of the first inning against UMass (6-8), thanks to a sac fly by sophomore first baseman
Grace Huffman. Massachusetts equalized in the top of the second.
The Screaming Eagles grabbed the lead in the bottom of the third on RBI singles by junior infielder
Sydney Long and junior outfielder
Kate Satkoski before a sacrifice RBI from freshman infielder
Abbey Booher. The combination led to a 4-1 advantage for USI.
Outside of one more run for the Minutewomen in the fifth inning, USI freshman pitcher
Elly Robbins (1-3) hurled a complete game to record her first career win.
At the plate, Satkoski and senior outfielder
Caroline Stapleton collected two hits apiece, as USI totaled seven in the contest.
UMass also totaled seven hits, and starting pitcher Olivia Cutuli (1-1) was charged with the loss after surrendering all four USI runs and lasting two innings.
In the second game of the day against Florida Atlantic (11-5), USI got off to another positive start with a run in the top of the first inning to claim a fast 1-0 lead. However, the Owls answered right away with three runs in the home half of the first to jump in front.
As things settled for the next three innings with zeroes on the board, Florida Atlantic eventually added three more runs in the fifth and an extra tally in the sixth to create the six-run difference.
Stapleton, freshman outfielder
Katelyn Marx, and freshman infielder
Jadyn Tinsley were responsible for USI's three hits at the plate. Meanwhile, sophomore pitcher
Kylie Witthaus (0-3) took the loss and pitched 3.1 innings before handing the ball off to freshman pitcher
Anna Kemp for the final 2.2 innings.
Florida Atlantic's Jaden Martinez (1-0) got the win behind 4.2 innings of work and one run allowed in the start, while the Owls' Ainsley Lambert tossed the last 2.1 innings for her third save of the year.
USI Softball concludes its visit to FAU and the Joan Joyce Classic on Sunday morning with a matchup against Villanova University at 8 a.m. CT. The game can be seen with a subscription to FloCollege, powered by FloSports. Additional coverage and live stat links are available on the USI Softball schedule page on usiscreamingeagles.com.