Army Closes Out Florida Trip With Win Over Brown

Sunday, February 26

Madeira Beach, Fla.

9 AM

Army West Point

6-4

Brown

0-4

Army West Point

Brown

Army Closes Out Florida Trip With Win Over Brown

February 26, 2017 | Softball

Box Score

MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. – The Army West Point softball team closed out its first trip to Florida with a 3-2 victory over Brown to finish off a 5-0 performance on the weekend.

The Black Knights improved to 6-4 on the season, while the Bears dropped to 0-1.

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

Army is now 4-6 in the all-time series against Brown, dating back to 1975.
The Black Knights have now won six consecutive games.
Freshman Emily Ballesteros documented two of Army's three hits in the game, her second multi-hit effort of the season.
The Cadets had a pair of first in the circle today as Kristen West earned her first win and Caroline Smith documented her first save of the season.
West has yet to allow a run in 10 innings of work this season.
Freshman Lacey Swafford saw her team-best eight-game hitting streak come to an end today. This was just the second time in 10 games that she has failed to get a hit.

KEY MOMENT

Smith was able to strike out the final batter of the game to preserve the victory for the Black Knights while stranding the game-tying run on third.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The game started with each side earning a base runner in the first inning with Emily Ballesteros notching a two-out walk for Army and Christina Andrews slapped a leadoff single for Brown.
This trend would continue for the next few innings without yielding much of a threat for either side.
Brown was able to get runners on second and third with two outs on the bottom of the fourth inning, but was unable to push across the first run of the game.
The Black Knights capitalized in the next half inning as two errors would prove costly for the Bears.
The rally started with two outs in the top of the fifth when a two-out walk by Ashley Yoo. She advanced to second on a throwing error by the catcher and scored on an errant throw from short that allowed Lacey Swafford to reach base.
A pitching change was made in the bottom of the inning after starter Kristen West tossed 4.2 scoreless innings and scattered six hits and two walks.
Caroline Smith came in for the final 2.1 innings and retired five out of the six batters she faced.
Ballesteros documented her first of two hits on the game to lead off the sixth inning. The Chino Hills, Calif., native advanced to second on a ground out and to third on a foul pop out. She was stranded there, however, as Army was unable to produce any insurance runs.
Following a one-two-three inning on defense, the Black Knights tacked on two runs to extend their lead to three runs.
Yoo walked with one out to begin the offensive surge, followed by Swafford reaching on an error for the second time in the game.
Alee Rashenskas recorded an RBI groundout that plated Yoo prior to Ballesteros blasting a double to right center, scoring Swafford.
Amelia Trotter singled Ballesteros to third, but she would be stranded there to end the final frame.
Trailing 3-0 to start the bottom of the seventh inning, Brown would not go out quietly.
The Bears got hits from two of its first three batters in the inning before loading the bases with an error.
A double from Sarah Syrop drove in two runs to cut the deficit to one run.
Smith was able to bear down for the final batter, however, earning a strikeout for the final out of the game to give Army the victory.