Friday and Saturday, April 17–18, BUF Softball hosted South Region opponent Trinity College of Jacksonville in Bonifay.
Game 1
Harley Daniels started for BUF, pitching a complete game while also batting 4th. She led off the 2nd inning with a walk, advanced to 2nd after
Hannah Twitty was hit by a pitch and moved to 3rd on a wild pitch. Daniels later scored on an error to give BUF a 1–0 lead.
In the 3rd inning,
Olivia Spooner came to the plate with 1 out and hit a line drive to center that rolled to the fence for a triple.
Jamie Jackson followed with an RBI single to bring Spooner home, extending the lead to 2–0.
TCJ scored 3 runs in the 6th and 7th innings, forcing BUF into the bottom of the 7th needing a run to extend the game.
Elizabeth Hancock doubled to left field and later scored on an error to send the game into extra innings.
In the 8th, despite TCJ starting with a runner on 2nd, Daniels held them scoreless with 2 pop-ups and a strikeout. BUF came to bat tied 3-3. Jackson began on 2nd, and
Janni Murray laid down a beautiful bunt that advanced Jackson to 3rd while reaching safely. Daniels was then hit by a pitch to load the bases. Twitty followed with a ground ball deep enough to score Jackson, securing the walk-off win (4-3) for BUF!
Game 2
BUF trailed 5-0 entering the bottom of the 5th but began a comeback.
Sarah Priester singled to left and advanced to 2nd on a ground ball. With 2 outs, Jackson drove a ball to center, scoring Priester. Murray followed with another hit to center, bringing in Jackson and making it a 5-2 game.
Jackson, now pitching in relief, threw a hitless 6th inning. In the bottom half, Hancock doubled to center and scored on a hit by
Kayden Bailey, cutting the deficit to 2.
Jackson then pitched a perfect 7th inning. In the bottom of the 7th, Spooner led off with a triple, her 2nd in as many games. With 2 outs, Daniels came to the plate and, after working the count, hit a 2-run home run to tie the game and force extras after 5 unanswered BUF runs.
TCJ scored in the top of the 8th, making it 6-5. In the bottom half,
Stefanie Donahey started on 2nd. With 2 outs, Hancock hit a fly ball that dropped in. Donahey scored, and Hancock continued around the bases to score, giving BUF another walk-off victory (7-6) and a 2–0 day!
Game 3
TCJ jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the 1st inning. Spooner led off for BUF and extended her hit streak to 6 games with a single. She advanced to 2nd on a groundout, moved to 3rd on a Murray single, and scored on another ground ball to make it 2-1.
TCJ added runs in the 4th and 5th to extend the lead to 5-1. In the bottom of the 5th, Bailey reached 3rd on an error, and Priester drove her in with a single to left, making it 5-2.
Jackson pitched a 3 up 3 down top of 6th inning and then led off the bottom half of the inning with a single, extending her hit streak to 8 games, the longest on the team this season. Murray followed with a single, but BUF could not capitalize.
In the 7th, BUF needed 3 runs to extend the game. Hancock led off with a single, and after a hit by Donahey, she advanced to 3rd. Hancock scored on a wild pitch, and Donahey moved to 3rd. With 2 outs, Spooner delivered an RBI single to make it 5-4. BUF nearly completed a 3rd straight comeback but fell just short. Despite the loss, BUF secured its 1st home series win.
Olivia Spooner went 5-for-11 (.455) with 3 singles, 2 triples, 3 runs scored, and 1 RBI.
Sarah Priester went 4-for-9 (.444), ranking 2nd on the team in both hits and batting average. She also added 1 run and 1 RBI.
Elizabeth Hancock led the team with 2 doubles and 5 runs scored while batting .300 over the 3 games.
