LEESBURG, Fla. - March 11, 2022 – Hiram College softball bounced back from an early loss to split their fourth day at The Spring Games, dropping a close one to Bethany College, 5-4, before coming from behind to beat Messiah College, 4-2, on Friday at the Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex – Field 3 in Leesburg, Fla.
 
GAME 1: Bethany College 5, Hiram College 4
Taking advantage of three walks and a pair of Hiram miscues, the Bison struck first in the top of the first. A pair of walks and throwing errors loaded the bases for Morgan Huey, who brought home Bethany's first run with a walk.
 
Darian Kanno though, struck out the next three batters to leave the bases loaded and keep Bethany's early lead at just 1-0, giving Hiram a chance to quickly tie things up in the bottom of the frame.
 
Abriana Schwartz led off the bottom of the inning with a walk, and Kanno follow by smashing a double to deep center, putting two in scoring position for the Terriers. Giselle Bahena then executed a squeeze to perfection, scoring Schwartz from third to tie the game at one-all.
 
Bethany though retook the lead in the top of the second. Angela Brandel led off with a hit-by-pitch, and Felicity Eli drew a walk put two on and nobody out for Destiny Goodnight, who reached on an error, bringing home both Brandel and Eli to give the Bison a 3-1 lead.
 
Kanno though, again got the next three batters on a lineout, strikeout and groundout, to strand Goodnight and keep Bethany's lead at just two.
 
And again, Hiram responded, this time to take the lead in the bottom of the second. Back-to-back singles by Giselle Chavez and Jeskari Rodriguez put two on for Melissa Galindo, who stroked an RBI single to center, cutting Bethany's lead to 3-2.
 
Josie Wise then got the next two Hiram batters via a foul out and a strikeout, but Bahena, with two-out, two-run double, brought home Rodriguez and Galindo, giving the Terriers a 4-3 lead.
 
Kanno then struck out the side in the top of the third and set Bethany down in order in the fourth to keep Hiram in front by one.
 
Bethany threatened in the top of the fifth, with a leadoff double by Jennifer Oberthur, and another Hiram miscue putting runners at first and third with nobody out, but Kanno again struck out the side, stranding a pair to keep the score at 4-3 in favor of the Terriers.
 
But after Hiram left a runner in scoring position in the bottom of the fifth, the Bison pushed a run across to tie the game in the sixth.
 
Bahena and Leah Valdez combined to pick off a leadoff base runner, but a walk and single put runners at the corners for Kathleen Fuchs, who tied the game with her RBI single. Bethany then threatened to take the lead, loading the bases and forcing Hiram to make a pitching change, but Rodriguez got Paige Allen to fly out to end the threat and keep the score tied at 4-4.
 
The Terriers then threatened in the bottom of the frame, putting a runner in scoring position on Rodriguez's one-out double, but Wise got the next two Terriers to foul out, sending the Bison to the plate in the top of the seventh.
 
And the Bison quickly took the lead in the top of the seventh, taking advantage of a pair of errors following a walk and infield single to take a 5-4 lead.
 
Rodriguez would get out of the seventh without allowing another run, sending Hiram to the plate with a chance to tie or walk things off. However, while the Terriers hit the ball hard in the seventh, only one reached base on Angel Santellan's two-out single as Wise and the Bison eked out a 5-4 victory.
 
Rodriguez (1-1) took the loss, allowing one run on one hit over 1.1 innings pitched, while Kanno took a no-decision, allowing four runs, two earned, on four hits, striking out 10 over 5.2 innings pitched.
 
Wise (3-0) picked up the win for the Bison, allowing four runs on nine hits, striking out five over 7.0 innings pitched.
 
At the plate, Bahena went 2-for-3 with a double and three RBI to led the Terriers, while Chavez and Rodriguez each went 2-for-3 with a run scored.
 
GAME 2:
After Kanno picked up the game's first hit but was stranded at second, the Falcons got on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the first.
 
Alexa Burger led off the bottom of the first for Messiah with a triple and gave the Falcons a 1-0 lead when she came home on Kyley Mellage's sacrifice bunt. The Falcons looked to extend their lead with a pair of singles, but Rodriguez struck out Ali Wanger to strand the pair.
 
Hiram looked to tie things up in the top of the second, putting runners at second and third on Kylie Perez's single and Fayth Kawamura's fielder's choice, but Lydia Collison got the next two batters to end the threat and keep Messiah out front 1-0.
 
Rodriguez worked around an error in the bottom of the second, striking out the side to keep Messiah off the scoreboard, before both sides went in order in the third.
 
But after Hiram again went 1-2-3 in the fourth, Messiah extended their lead in the bottom of the frame.
 
Two hit-by-pitches and two sacrifice bunts put two on with two out for the Falcons, who then loaded the bases on Elena Rosas' walk. A wild pitch brought a run home to make it 2-0 Messiah, but Rodriguez picked up another strikeout, this time getting Burger looking to strand two.
 
And in the top of the fifth, Hiram battled back to even the score at 2-2. A pair of fielding errors put Kawamura and Schwartz in scoring position for Chavez, who smacked a double to left-center, scoring both to tie the score at 2-all.
 
Chavez was left stranded at third, but after Rodriguez worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth, the Terriers took the lead in the sixth.
 
A two-out triple by Perez put a run 60-feet away from scoring for Kawamura, who's brought Perez home with an RBI single to left, giving Hiram their first lead of the game, and forcing Messiah to make a pitching change.
 
Rodriguez then again set the Falcons down in order in the bottom of the sixth, giving Hiram a chance to tack on some insurance runs in the top of the seventh.
 
Galindo led off the seventh with a single and took second on Chavez's sacrifice bunt. Kanno then brought home Galindo with an RBI single up the middle, extending Hiram's lead to 4-2.
 
After another Messiah pitching change, the Terriers look to add a couple more insurance runs, but Madison Walter struck out a pair to send things to the bottom of the seventh.
 
It wouldn't matter though, as Rodriguez continued cruising, setting down the side in the bottom of the seventh, to finish off the 4-2 comeback victory.
 
Rodriguez (2-1) earned the win and pitched a complete game, allowing two runs on three hits, walking one and striking out nine. Collison (3-1) took the loss for the Falcons, allowing three runs on five hits, striking out 10 over 5.2 innings pitched.
 
Kanno and Perez each led the Terriers with two hits, with Kanno going 2-for-4 with an RBI and Perez going 2-for-3 with a triple and run scored.
 
Chavez continued her hot start to the year, going 1-for-4 with a double and two RBI from the leadoff spot.
 
Hiram will wrap up their week at The Spring Games on Saturday, March 12 at Hancock Park – Field 3 in Clermont, Fla. when they take on Lake Forest at 10 a.m. and Southern Maine at 2:30 p.m.