FORT PIERCE, Fla. – Macomb Softball fought valiantly in a pair of setbacks to NJCAA Division I perennial power and current No. 20 Indian River State College on Wednesday (March 8) in Fort Pierce, Fla. The Monarchs dropped game one, 8-0, and continued to battle in a nightcap that was tighter than the 7-0 final tally.
GAME ONE: No. 20 Indian River State 8, Macomb 0 (F/5)
The 20
th ranked team in the highest junior college division scored four runs in the first and added four more in the second to earn the 8-0 win.
Elizabeth Townsend (New Baltimore, Mich./Anchor Bay) accounted for half of the Monarchs hits in game one, going 2-for-2 at the plate with a pair of singles against a powerful Pioneers squad.
Samantha Scott (Romeo, Mich./Eisenhower) recorded the lone extra-base hit of the game for the Monarchs, a fifth inning double to left field. The double was the first of the season for the 2022 MCCAA Eastern Conference Freshman of the Year.
Alexis Murray (Clinton Twp., Mich./Chippewa Valley) also had a hit in the opener, her third of the season.
Allison Vogt (Chesterfield, Mich./Anchor Bay) stepped into the circle in relief and went on to hold the high-octane Pioneers to two hits over two scoreless innings.
GAME TWO: No. 20 Indian River State 7, Macomb 0
The duo of
Samantha Scott and
Elizabeth Townsend picked up where they left off in the opener as Scott had two hits while Townsend added one to lift her team-leading batting average to .476 on the season.
Carleigh Bilpo (Sterling Heights, Mich./Henry Ford II) accounted for the lone other hit in game two for the Monarchs.
After settling the Monarchs down in game one,
Allison Vogt got the starting nod in game two and impressed once again by holding the Pioneers to three runs over the first 5 2/3 innings before a few breaks went the way of the hosts late.
With two wins Wednesday, the host Pioneers improved to 28-7 on the season.
UP NEXT
The Monarchs return to Melbourne's Space Coast Complex for their final four games of the 2023 spring trip. On Thursday, the Monarchs meet familiar foe Culver-Stockton JV at 4:30 p.m. and finish the day with a 6:30 p.m. first pitch against Central Florida Developmental. The spring trip concludes Friday with a 2 p.m. tilt against Culver-Stockton JV and a 4 p.m. contest opposite Bryant & Stratton-Wisconsin. All four remaining games will be streamed live on
usssalive.com (subscription required).