By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Normal, ILL---The No. 8 Express softball team came out on fire offensively and held a 7-1 lead through six and a half innings against No. 9 South Mountain (AZ). A furious six run rally tied the game, but the Express won a thrilling 8-7 nine-inning game to advance in the national tournament.
A two-out, nobody on first inning rally for the Express produced two runs. Alaina Haubert singled and stole second. Lindsey Bandeen knocked her in with an RBI double, and Tayler Redinger followed with an RBI single to put Owens up 2-0.
After Express starter Jordan Ratliff set South Mountain down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the first, the offense put three more on the board in the second.
Bridget Wolfe led off the inning with a triple. One out later, she scored on an RBI single by Kristen Roznoski to make it 3-0. Ashleigh Whitacre knocked her in with an RBI double to chase South Mountain starter Alexis Villegas. Following a strikeout by Haubert, Bandeen came up with a clutch two out RBI single to make it 5-0.
Stephanie Valenzuela produced an RBI double for South Mountain in the bottom of the second to cut it to 5-1.
An RBI double by Wolfe scored Kelley Molloy in the top of the third to make it 6-1. Whitacre then scored on an error by South Mountain's catcher to make it 7-1 in the fourth.
The game then remained run free until the seventh. In fact, Ratliff had only allowed one hit and faced the minimum from the third through sixth innings. That all changed in a hurry.
A double and a RBI single by South Mountain to begin the inning made it 7-2. Then, a fielder's choice and an error allowed runners to reach first and second. An ensuing single loaded the bases with no outs. An RBI groundout and two consecutive RBI singles made it 7-5 with one out.
Ratliff was then relieved by Elizabeth Weber. After a pop out to second base for the second out of the inning, Felicia Wilson perfectly placed a single down the right field line that scored both runs and tied the game at seven. A foul out to third base then ended the inning. Three of the six runs in the inning were unearned due to the error.
Despite back-to-back two-out singles by Whitacre and Haubert, the Express went scoreless in the top of the eighth. Weber then held South Mountain to a one-out single, but nothing more to send the game to the ninth.
A walk by Redinger and a single by Matea Rice put runners on first and second with no outs to begin the inning. Morgan Gray ran for Redinger and Hallie Thompson ran for Rice. A failed sacrifice bunt by Molloy kept the runners in place, but Wolfe drew a walk to load the bases with one out. South Mountain then brought their starter, Villegas, back in. Michelle Hollister then produced the game winning RBI on a fielder's choice groundout to score Gray and make it 8-7.
Back-to-back two-out singles by South Mountain put a scare into the Express, but they held on to advance.
Weber (7-0) got the win in relief for Owens, while Jennifer Yazzie took the loss in relief. The top four in the Express lineup (Roznoski, Whitacre, Haubert and Bandeen) went 8-for-19 with five runs scored and four RBIs. Wolfe went 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI from the eight spot.
With the win, Owens will now take on No. 2 Kankakee (IL) in the loser's bracket semifinal. The winner advances to the national title game.