Army Earns Opening-Day Split at Mercer Invitational

Friday, February 8

Macon, Ga.

11 AM

Army West Point

0-1

Jacksonville State

1-0

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
ARMY	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Jacksonville State	0	0	5	0	1	0	X	6	4	1

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Army West Point	0	0	3	0	2	0	3	8	11	3
Mercer	0	0	1	0	3	1	1	6	9	4

Grace Mattimore set career highs with two hits and four RBI in Army's win over Mercer

Army Earns Opening-Day Split at Mercer Invitational

February 08, 2019 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

MACON, Ga. – The Army West Point softball team rebounded against host-Mercer to earn an opening-day split at the Mercer Invitational on Friday.

The Black Knights fell in their season-opener against Jacksonville State, 6-0, before mounting an 8-6 victory over the Bears in the night cap. Army currently sits at 1-1, along with Mercer, while Jacksonville State went 2-0 on the afternoon.

Senior Carrie Reilly powered the offense today by going 3-for-6, scoring three runs and driving in one, while sophomore Grace Mattimore provided the pop with her first collegiate home run and four RBI. Rookie Bianca Gonzalez added two hits, including a double, scored a run and drove one in as well.

In the circle, sophomore Taylor Drayton tossed a complete game for the Cadets in game one, allowing just four hits in six innings of work while striking out three. Junior Macey Newbary struck out a team-high four batters in the second game, while rookie Jolie Duong picked up the win in relief. The Houston, Texas, native scattered four hits through her 2.2 innings of work.

GAME 1: JACKSONVILLE STATE 6, ARMY 0
HOW IT HAPPENED

The Black Knights and Gamecocks were scoreless through the first two innings until Jacksonville State broke out for five runs in the home half of the third.
Lex Hull provided the big hit for JSU with a two-run home run to cap scoring in the frame.
She added an RBI single in the fifth to provide the Gamecocks with their sixth and final run of the game.

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

Interim head coach Bob Beretta made his coaching debut at the helm of the Black Knights.
Sophomore pitcher Taylor Drayton tossed the first complete game of her career.
The Clayton, S.C., native posted career highs in innings pitched (7.0) and strikeouts (3).
She added her first-career hit by pitch as one of three Army base runners in the contest.
Senior first baseman Carrie Reilly was the only other Cadet to reach base with her fifth-career hit by pitch as well as reaching on an error.
Senior outfielder Maddie Kim started the 100th time in her career donning the black and gold.
Sophomore Grace Mattimore played in her 25th game at Army.
Rookies Jolie Duong and Bianca Gonzalez made their collegiate debuts in the game.

GAME 2: ARMY 8, MERCER 6
HOW IT HAPPENED

Rookie Bianca Gonzalez recorded Army's first hit of 2019 with a one-out single in the second inning. She advanced to third base but was unable to cross the plate as the game remained scoreless.
The Black Knights got on the board first thanks to a three-run homer by sophomore Grace Mattimore that plated Carrie Reilly and Emily Ballesteros in the third.
The Bears answered in the home half of the inning when Abby Walsh's tripled to bring the score to 3-1.
Reilly and Mattimore increased the Cadets' lead in the fifth inning with a pair of RBI singles to 5-1.
Walsh once again provided the response for Mercer with a two-run double in the bottom half of the inning before an Allie Jones RBI single brought it to a one-run game.
Mercer tied the game in the bottom of the sixth, setting us up for an exciting ending.
The Black Knights' bats were revitalized in the seventh as the visitors generated three runs on four hits in the final inning to retake the lead, 8-5.
A two-out double by Gonzalez scored Reilly from second for the go-ahead run before a stolen base and an error allowed the rookie outfielder to cross the plate as well.
Army tacked on an insurance run when Ally Snelling legged out an infield single which plated Duong.

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

Beretta recorded his first coaching victory at the collegiate level against the Bears.
Army improved to 2-1 in the all-time series with Mercer in the first meeting between the two clubs since 2007.
Snelling was penciled into the starting lineup for the 40th time in her collegiate career.
Mattimore belted her first-career home run.
The Ashburn, Va., native posted career highs in hits (2) and RBI (4).
It was her first collegiate game with multiple hits or multiple RBI.
Reilly documented the 15th multi-hit and fifth three-hit effort of her career.
Newbary struck out at least four batters for the ninth time in her career.
Gonzalez provided the Black Knights with their first hit of the 2019 campaign with her first-career base knock.
The Norco, Calif., native posted her first multi-hit game for the Black Knights with a single and a double.
Duong notched her first collegiate hit and earned her first-career win.
Drayton appeared in the 50th game of her career at Army.

COACH'S CORNER
Interim Head Coach Bob Beretta – "We showed a lot of grit and resiliency tonight. It would've been easy for us to pack it in after losing the first game and seeing (Mercer) tie the game after going up, 5-1, but we showed a great compete level and really displayed that black flag mentality we're always preaching. It was a great character win tonight, and hopefully it will give us some momentum heading into the rest of the weekend.
"This was a total team effort up and down the roster. Grace's three-run home run got us off to great start, and Carrie sparked the offense all night long. One of the unsung heroes of the game was Julia Wyatt who, after not playing all day, gets bunt down in seventh that moves go-ahead run into scoring position. Bianca had some struggles defensively throughout the day but came up big when it mattered most with a two-out double. That was the biggest play of the day. Macey worked hard in the circle for us, and Jolie came in and gave us an opportunity to win at the end of the game."

UP NEXT

The Black Knights will continue play at the Mercer Invitational with another matchup against Jacksonville State and Mercer on Saturday.
The first game versus the Gamecocks is slated for 12:15 p.m. with the contest against the Bears following at 2:30 p.m.