Army Downs Rutgers 8-3; Falls in Later Game to Hartford

Friday, February 7

Statesboro, Ga.

1 PM

Army West Point

1-0

Rutgers

0-1

Army

RUTGERS

Army Downs Rutgers 8-3; Falls in Later Game to Hartford

February 07, 2020 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

STATESBORO, Ga. – The Army West Point softball team opened its 2020 campaign with an 8-3 win over Rutgers in its season-opener, but followed it with a loss against Hartford in its second contest of the day by a final score of 12-5.

The earlier result marked the first win at Army as head coach for Cheryl Milligan.

GAME 1: ARMY 8, RUTGERS 3

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

This was Army's first win over a Big Ten program since the 1991 season when it topped Michigan State, 5-1.
Ally Snelling was 4-for-5 from the plate and had three RBIs. In her first plate appearance of the year, she hit a solo shot over the right field fence to mark her third career home run.
Madi Gilmore and Taylor Livingston also had multi-hit games. Gilmore was 2-for-3 with two RBIs, while Livingston was 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
Emily Iannotti picked up the win on the afternoon. She pitched 5.1 innings, with six strikeouts and allowed three earned runs.
Alicyn Grete came on in relief of Iannoti in the sixth and earned the save in her first career appearance.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Army poured on two runs in the second inning, ignited by Snellings solo-shot out over the right field fence. Later on in the frame, Madi Gilmore knocked in Taylor Livingston from second base with an RBI single to take the 2-0 lead.
The Cadets added to their lead in the top of the third with two more runs to go up 4-0.
The Black Knights found themselves in a bit of a jam in the bottom of the third, as Rutgers had runners on the corners with no outs. Though, Army recorded three straight outs to get out of the inning unscathed.
In the top of the fourth Snelling continued her impressive afternoon with a two-out RBI single up the middle to push the Black Knights ahead 5-0.
Rutgers clawed its way back into the contest with three consecutive home runs to cut Army's lead to 5-3 entering the final inning of play.
The Black Knights regained their five-run cushion in the top of the seventh. Taylor Drayton knocked two runners with a 2 RBI double out to left center field. Drayton later came around to score on an RBI single from Snelling, making the score 8-3.

GAME 2: HARTFORD 12, ARMY 5

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

Emily Ballesteros was 2-for-4 with two RBIs in the contest. The Second Team All-Patriot League selection from last year now has 71 career RBIs.
Gilmore registered her second multi hit game of the day, going 2-for-4 from the plate. The sophomore had four such games all of last year.
Freshman Brook Mitchell was 2-for-4 with a run scored.
Macey Newbary pitched 4.0 innings, recording four strikeouts and allowing just one earned run.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Hawks were the first team on the board with Kelsey Galevich knocking in Danielle Rocheleau with an RBI single into shallow right field to go up 1-0.
The Black Knights took their first lead in the bottom of the third with a 2 RBI single off the bat of Ballesteros to go up 2-1. The next inning Army made it a 3-1 lead with Livingston knocking in Brook Mitchell.
Hartford managed to tie the score up at 3-3 with two runs in the top of the fifth.
Army responded in the bottom half of the inning with Gilmore sending an RBI double to the gap in right center field to make the score 4-3. Army added to its lead with Taylor Drayton sending Grete home on a sacrifice fly to give it the 5-3 advantage.
The Hawks caught fire offensively in the top of the seventh, scoring a total of nine runs to earn their first win of the season.

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