Eagles Win On Walk Off

Kissimmee, FL - The Eagles are in the mist of their annual spring break trip down in Florida. After dropping their first two games of the trip, the bunch was ready to go for day two. In their first game on Thursday, JU took on Dordt. 

Freshmen Katherine Hrinda was in the circle for Judson. She dazzled for the first six innings shutting down the opposition in scoreless fashion. 

In support, the Eagles scored the game's lone two runs in the second inning by capitalizing on some miscues. With two outs in the inning, Ashlynn Avenarius doubled to centerfield on a ball that fell between two fielders. McKenna Morrill then reached on an error scoring Avenarius. Later in the inning, Lexie Knowles singled to bring home Morrill. 

The game would be 2-0 in favor of the Eagles until the 7th inning when drama ensued. 

Judson was one out away from the shutout victory when Dordt finally broke through on the scoreboard. The Eagles had done a good job of walking the tightrope all game long, but could not quite hold on in the final inning. 

Three consecutive Defenders doubles brought the score to 5-2 in favor of Dordt going into the bottom of the 7th inning. 

Showing some fight, JU rallied with help from the Dordt pitching staff. 

Tatyana Chavez and Avenarius walked to start the inning, followed by Morrill reaching on another error to load the bases with nobody out. 

Knowles, and Cynthia Alvillar also walked to bring in runs and cut the deficit to 5-4. 

Then, on a full count pitch, Madelynn Petty poked a single up the middle to bring home two more runs, and bring home a 6-5 walk off victory for the Eagles. 

"I thought Kate pitched great, and I love that our team showed fight in the end to get the win. We never gave up," said Head Coach Laura Starkey after the game. 

For the game, Hrinnda's line was 7 innings pitched, 10 hits allowed, 5 earned runs allowed with four strikeouts. She earned her third win of the season. 

Knowles and Petty both were credited with two RBI's each in the game to lead the way. 

The Eagles are currently 1-3 on the trip with eight more games scheduled down in Florida.