BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Toledo pulled out a 3-1 (8 inn.) victory over Saint Francis (Pa.) on Saturday morning before falling to Gardner-Webb by a 9-3 margin in the afternoon. Both games were played at Gardner-Webb's Brinkley Stadium.
Freshman
Annika Johnson (1-1) earned her first collegiate victory by limiting the Red Flash to six hits and a run in 7.0 innings. Senior
Erin Hunt allowed just one hit in the eighth inning en route to her first save of the season. Saint Francis' Rachel Marsden (2-3) allowed 10 hits and three runs in the defeat.
"It was great to see Annika throw really well and pick up the win," Head Coach
Joe Abraham said. "That's the Annika we saw in the fall and what she is capable of. Their top of the order was coming up for a fourth time so we put Erin in to get the save."
In Game 2, the Bulldogs took advantage of some Toledo miscues to score three runs in the first and five more in the second. Hunt (5-3) allowed three hits and six runs (one earned) in 1.2 innings, her shortest stint of the season. Junior
Sophia Schwegel pitched three scoreless innings of one-hit relief in her season debut.
"Sophia has been patiently waiting for her shot and came in and held them down for the last three innings to allow us to go a full seven innings," Abraham said. "She pitched out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the sixth. It was a great step forward for her and gave us a chance to come back."
Junior
Anna Dixon and freshman
Lexi Eckman led Toledo offensively today with two hits apiece.
The Rockets will wrap up their weekend in North Carolina on Sunday with a 10:00 a.m. meeting vs. Saint Francis and a 2:00 p.m. contest against Gardner-Webb.
GAME 1
- The contest was scoreless through the first five innings.
- Toledo broke through for the first run of the game in the sixth when senior third basemanDayna Denner's one-out single scored freshman center fielder Lexi Eckman.
- The Red Flash answered in the bottom of the frame when a pair of singles led to a sacrifice fly.
- With senior first baseman Raelyn Nyren placed on second to open the eighth inning, Eckman singled to advance her to third. Nyren scored on sophomore left fielder Leah Munson's single, with freshman shortstop Jenna Kroll providing an insurance run with an RBI groundout.
GAME 2
- Hunt retired the first two batters in the first before the Bulldogs loaded the bases on two hit-by-pitches and a single. All three came in to score when junior second baseman Bri Robeson dropped a pop-up in short right field.
- Gardner-Webb homered twice in the second inning as part of five-run uprising to take an 8-0 lead.
- Toledo scored three in the fifth to cut its deficit to 9-3. Freshman Lauren Erickson delivered an RBI single for the first run with the other two scoring on an error and wild pitch.