Knights softball was back on the field on Tuesday, May 13, as they were set to take on the 5-seed Mustangs of Central Baptist College. The Knights had to win out if they were to advance to the NAIA World Series.
The Knights led off the first inning with a walk but nothing came of it. The Mustangs scored a run in the second inning and the Knights were retired in order as they trailed 1-0. The Knights started a two out rally in the third inning with a single by Gabbie Haas and an RBI double by Carmen Phillips tied the game at 1-1. The rally continued as a walk by Madison Cosgrove ended in a wild pitch that allowed Phillips to score and the Knights grabbed a 2-1 lead. The Knights extended their lead in the fourth inning with a solo home run to left field from Mel Bullock that put the Knights up 3-1 and they put themselves in a good position for the win with four runs in the fifth inning on RBI singles by Grace Avery and Alexis Cosgrove and a two-run double by Mel Bullock as they held a 7-1 lead after five innings. The Knights started off the sixth inning with two walks to put the winning run on base that led to a two-run double by Caroline Albritton and the Knights won 9-1. With the win, the Knights moved on to play the 4-seed Eagles of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
The game against the Eagles proved to be a matchup of two evenly matched teams. The Knights put a runner on base in each of the first two innings of the game but came away with no runs. The Knights had a great chance to score in the third inning with the first two batters getting on base with no outs but the Eagles kept the Knights from bringing either runner around to score. The Knights put a runner on first base in both the fifth and sixth innings but the offense could not string anything together. The game headed into extra innings with the score still tied at 0-0. The Knights got the first two batters of the eighth inning on base with back-to-back singles by Gabbie Haas and Carmen Phillips. An infield fly from Grace Avery advanced the runners to second and third but the runners were stranded as the game remained tied. The Knights again got the first two batters on base in the ninth inning with a single by Alexis Cosgrove and Kaylee Oliver reached on an error that put runners on first and third with no outs. Jenna Kirkland was hit by a pitch later in the inning to load the bases with one out and Gabbie Haas hit the sacrifice fly to drive in the winning run and give the Knights the 1-0.
The Knights advance to play on Wednesday, May 14, when the will play the Saints of Our Lady of the Lake University at 8 a.m. CDT/9 a.m. EST.
