Knights softball was back on their home field on Saturday, April 5, as they hosted the Crusaders of William Carey University. The Knights and Crusaders series have recently grown into a rivalry and Saturday's games continued that trend.
The Knights were the first to strike in the first inning after a two out double by Madison Cosgrove set up Kaylee Oliver for the RBI single to give the Knights a 1-0 lead. The game moved fast with both pitchers dominating in the circle until the fifth inning when the Knights struck again. Gabbie Haas led off the inning with a single and a sacrifice bunt by Carmen Phillips gave way to an RBI double by Madison Cosgrove to put the Knights up 2-0. Grace Avery kept the momentum flowing with an RBI double of her own to put the Knights up 3-0. Three runs was all the Knights needed as Emily Proctor continued to have the hot hand in the circle as she shut down the Crusaders bats and the Knights won the first game of the series 3-0. Proctor pitched a complete game shutout, allowing five hits and striking out six batters.
The second game of the series started just like the first with the Knights scoring one run in the first inning with a sacrifice fly by Kaylee Oliver. The Crusaders answered back in the third inning with a run to tie the game at 1-1 and they grabbed the lead with another run in the sixth inning as the Knights trailed 2-1. As the story has been all season, the Knights came up clutch in the late stages of the game. The Knights enter the final inning down 2-1 and needing to find a way to score at least one run. Caroline Albritton led off the inning with a single and a sacrifice bunt by Jenna Kirkland put her on second. Gabbie Haas drew a walk and a bunt single by Carmen Phillips loaded the bases. Madison Cosgrove hit an RBI single through the left side to tie the game at 2-2 and Kaylee Oliver was hit by a pitch to push the winning run across to give the Knights a 3-2 win. Emily Proctor notched another win with another six strikeout performance.
The win pushes the Knights winning streak to 15 games as they continue to have a commanding lead in the conference standings. The Knights will be back in action on Friday, April 11, as they travel to Thomasville, Ga. to take on the Nighthawks of Thomas University. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. EDT.
