DANVILLE, Ky. - February 29, 2020 – Hiram softball split a pair of games to open the 2020 season at the Centre College Softball Invitational, falling to the Transylvania University Pioneers, 16-0, in five innings, before walking off to beat the Centre College Colonels, 5-4, in extra innings. With the win, the Terriers now sit at 1-1 on the year.

GAME 1: Transylvania 16, Hiram 0 (5 innings)
Transylvania loaded the bases with a trio of walks in the top of the first inning and took the lead on Janelle Hayes' RBI groundout to second. Abby Frazier followed with a single through the left side to score another run, but Giselle Chavez threw Annie Shuck out at home, holding the Pioneers to just a two-run advantage.

Hiram answered with three singles in the bottom of the frame off the bats of Victoria Garcia, Avery Balurdi and Giselle Bahena, but both Garcia and Balurdi were caught stealing, and the Pioneers got out the inning unscathed.

The Pioneers added two more runs in the top of the second inning on back-to-back RBI singles, before breaking things open with a 10-run top of the third.

Transylvania loaded the bases to start the third, taking advantage of Hiram's lone error of the game. A bases-loaded walk made it a 5-0 lead, before the Pioneers strung together three RBI hits to extend their lead to 14-0.

Jeskari Rodriguez pitched a scoreless top of the fourth, but the Pioneers added two more in the top of the fifth on Taylor Stamps RBI single and a bases-loaded walk before finishing off the five-inning, run-rule victory with a scoreless bottom of the frame.

Carson Murray (1-0) earned the win for the Pioneers, while Bailey Scheck (0-1) took the loss for the Terriers, allowing 12 runs, six earned) on 10 hits over 2.2 innings pitched.

Balurdi led the Terriers at the plate, going 1-for-1 with a walk and a single.

GAME 2: Hiram 5, Centre 4 (8 innings)
Centre struck first against the Terriers in the top of the first inning. With Scheck back out in the circle, back-to-back infield singles and an error put runners on second and third with nobody out. Scheck struck out Melissa Collins to record the first out of the frame, but the Colonels pushed a run across on Sarah Aubuchon's RBI groundout to take a 1-0 lead.

The Terriers answered to take the lead in the bottom of the frame. Garcia and Balurdi drew back-to-back walks to put two on with nobody out for Giselle Bahena, who laced a single to right-center, scoring Garcia to tie the game at one.

With two outs in the frame, Hiram added another run on Mariah Sheffield's RBI single, scoring Bahena from second to take a 2-1 lead.

Scheck fired a scoreless frame in the top of the second, working around a one-out walk, before Hiram added to their lead in the bottom of the frame.

Balurdi and Bahena stroked back-to-back two-out singles to put two one for Chavez, who smacked a single of her own to left, scoring Balurdi to extend Hiram's lead to 3-1.

Both teams left two runners on in the third, before Centre pushed another run across in the top of the fourth. Abigail Harper led off the inning with a triple, and Charlotte Mabbs followed with a triple of her own to cut the Terriers' lead to 3-2. But Hiram picked off Mabbs at third, and Scheck struck out the next two batters to keep the Terriers out in front.

And Hiram added to their lead in the bottom of the frame. Chavez reached on a fielder's choice and stole second, advancing to third on Sheffield's infield single, before a perfectly executed double-steal brought Chavez home, making it a 4-2 Hiram lead.

However, the Colonels added a run in the top of the fifth on Aubuchon's RBI double down the right-field line, and another in the top of the seventh on Aubuchon's RBI double to right, tying the game at 4-4.

With a chance to walk things off, Hiram went down in order in the bottom of the seventh, but Scheck worked around another base runner, getting a groundout and two strikeouts to give the Terriers another chance for their first win of the year.

Garcia bunted Melissa Galindo over to third to open the frame, and with two outs, Bahena hit a double over the centerfielder's head, scoring Galindo from third to give the Terriers a 5-4, extra-inning walk-off victory.

Scheck (1-1) earned the win in a complete-game performance, allowing four runs on nine hits, striking out eight over 8.0 innings pitched. Alana Fullen (0-1) took the loss for Centre.

Bahena led the Terriers at the plate, going 3-for-5 with a double, run scored and two RBI. Sheffield went 3-for-4 with an RBI, while Balurdi went 2-for-4 with a walk and run scored.

The Terriers will wrap up the Centre College Softball Invitational on Sunday, March 1 when they take on the Colonels at 11:00 a.m. and the Pioneers at 1:30 p.m. at the Centre Softball Field in Danville, Ky.