ALC Softball drops heartbreaking 4-3 decision to #1 Georgia Gwinnett in CAC Tournament; Return to action on Thursday

Lawrenceville, GA: The #4 seeded Alice Lloyd Lady Eagles softball squad returned to the diamond in the double-elimination Continental Athletic Conference Tournament on April 29^th, facing the #1 seeded Georgia Gwinnett Grizzlies in the second game of the winner's bracket. The Bluegrass bombers battled to the wire, and had their chances, before dropping a tough 4-3 decision.

The loss drops the Lady Eagles to 35-13 while GGU moves to 27-22 on the year.

 April 29th

Game 2 (Seven Innings)

Alice Lloyd-3: Georgia Gwinnett-4

The Lady Eagles rallied but came up just short in a nail-biter

The Kentucky kids struck in their first at-bat. Mackenzie Newport (CF) walked, advanced to second on another  walk, and eventually made her way home on Mckenzie Orfield's (3B) single (1-0).

Things remained unchanged until the fifth as pitching was solid by both squads. However, In the bottom of that inning, ALC errors would prove costly.

After opening the inning with a double, the Grizzlies ldrew a pair of walks to load the basepaths with 0 outs. The Caney crew then induced a ground ball, but a throwing error permitted a pair of hosts to score (2-1). Then, the next batter hit another grounder, but Alice Lloyd made a second error that delivered another duo of baserunners. Suddenly, the Georgia club led 4-1.

The Caney Creekers responded in the sixth. With two away, Brooke Baker (SS) singled and Chloe Taylor (2B) drew a walk. This brought Whitney Lippert (C) to bat and she promptly belted a double to bring both teammates home. This reduced the deficit to just one, 4-3.

After retiring the Grizzlies in the sixth, the Lady Eagles had one last chance in the seventh. With two away, Newport walked and Orfield singled. This brought the blue and whites leading hitter Arin Rife (P) to the plate. She laced a shot between third and short, but Gwinnett's shortstop was able to make a fine catch and end the contest.

At the plate, Orfield, knocked 2 hits while Lippert drove in 2 RBIs.

On the mound, Rife suffered the hard-luck loss. In 5 innings, she gave up 4 hits and 2 earned runs, with 5 walks and 1 strikeout. Justice came in the final inning and was solid, as well, allowing 1 hit and 0 runs.

 The clubs both had 5 hits, but ALC hurt themselves with the 2 critical errors.  

The Lady Eagles will now play their third match on Thursday at 5pm when they battle the winner between #3 Westcliff University California and #5 Carolina University, North Carolina.