Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
Hartford
Softball Drops 3-2 Heartbreaker To Hartford
March 17, 2011 | Softball
KISSIMMEE, Fla. - Hartford snapped a 1-1 tie with a pair of unearned runs in the top of the sixth inning, and Sierra Sheehan stranded the potential tying run at second base in the bottom of the seventh as the Hawks defeated Army, 3-2, at the Fortune Road Athletic Complex Thursday afternoon.
The loss is just the second at the Rebel Spring Games for the Black Knights (8-8), who are 4-2 in Florida, after having their three-game win streak halted. Army snapped a 3-3 tie in a 6-3 win over Siena earlier in the day.
After throwing hitless ball over the first three innings, Army's Haley Pypes was touched for a pair of hits along with a walk to load the bases with no outs in the top of the fourth inning. The freshman right-hander got out of that jam on back-to-back infield popups, along with her season-high fifth strikeout (looking) to end that threat.
Caught in a pitcher's duel with Sheehan, Pypes gave Army an early 1-0 advantage when she lined a two-out single up the middle to score Reanna Johnson, who double (her second of the game) in the home half of the fourth inning.
Hartford tied the game 1-1 in the top of the fifth inning when Kate Wacyk, who was 2-for-2 with two RBI, smacked a leadoff home run to left field. Pypes retired the next three batters, then Sheehan denied Army in the bottom half of that inning. After issuing a walk to the first batter she faced, along with yielding a single with two outs, the right-hander induced the next batter to ground out to the third baseman with runners in the corners.
The Hawks capitalized on a pair of hits, a walk and an error to hand Pypes (4-2) a hard-luck loss when they snapped the tie with a pair of unearned runs in the top of the sixth inning. With runners at first and second and one out, an infield throwing error to second base on a fielder's choice allowed Melani Maxwell to score the tie-breaking run. Following a foul ball popup for the second out, Wacyk's run-scoring single on a full-count pitch to left field delivered what proved to be the game-deciding run as Hartford pulled out to a 3-1 lead.
Sheehan retired the side in the bottom of the sixth, but Army threatened in the seventh drawing to within a run before having its rally nipped. Pinch hitter Meghan McGowan led off with a single up the middle and moved into scoring position on a second-out fielder's choice. April Ortenzo, 2-for-2, knocked in McGowan with a single up the middle and moved to second on the throw home. Sheehan induced the next batter on a 2-2 pitch to fly out to the center fielder to preserve the win.
Hartford had six hits off Pypes, who walked five, struck out five and stranded 10 runners. Army collected eight hits, including a pair of doubles by Johnson, who was 2-for3 along with a run scored, off Sheehan who stranded seven runners.
The Black Knights close out their week-long stay Saturday morning with games against Siena at 9 a.m. and the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay scheduled for 11 a.m.
