Reinhardt Pummels Point to Start League Year 2-0
By Mike DeVader, Reinhardt Director of Athletic Communications & Media
WALESKA, Ga. – No. 21 Reinhardt opened Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) play at home on Friday afternoon and grabbed a sweep against Point (Ga.), 11-3 (six innings) and 9-3 under the sun at Ken White Softball Field.
The Eagles move to 2-0 in the AAC and improve to 14-8 overall on the young season.
"Today was a great start to a very long conference season," lead Eagle Jade Geuther said. "I can count on one hand the physical or mental mistakes we made today, so overall, we played well in all aspects. That's how you have to play in the conference season and when you push into the top 25. The target is on us, and we were ready and responded to it very well today."
The hometown team pounded out 17 hits on the day in the opening bout, led by shortstop Emily Loveless going 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs and a run scored. Four additional players posted a pair of knocks each as well in the triumph, and a total of 11 Reinhardt student-athletes earned base-hits against the Skyhawks.
The Eagles scored in five of the six frames they played in game one, highlighted by three tallies in the second and four more in the third. Olivia Jacobs got her club on the board first with an RBI-single in the opening at-bat, and then the lead ballooned to 4-0 after a Loveless single and a 2-RBI triple from Emma Adams.
Point was able to break into the scorebook with one in the top of the third, but it surrendered four more tallies in the bottom of the third after five hits, including a pair of RBI-doubles and a single to shallow left-center.
The Eagles also got a run on an error at first base.
Reinhardt made it 9-1 in the fourth as the hit parade continued, but the Skyhawks avoided early elimination with a 2-RBI single of their own in the top of the fifth. The Eagles would get the last laugh, however, as they walked-off with an RBI-single from Emily Draper that scored Witney Bones.
Reagen Radke again went wire-to-wire with six innings of work and four Ks, surrendering just six hits.
The offensive showcase continued into the rubber match for the hometown club, but it was the visitors who got on the board first with a sacrifice fly. Reinhardt responded in the bottom of the first with a tally of its own before adding another in the third (error), two in the fourth (error and RBI-single) and another in the fifth (single).
The Skyhawks would then power the ball through a strong wind and over the fence in the sixth for a 2-run blast to get within 5-3, but the deficit would expand again with four more runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Highlights included an Adams RBI-double, a 2-RBI double from Jacobs and Brooke Ramey run-scoring knock.
Megan Huss smacked three of the Eagles' nine hits from the top of the order, and Ramey also had multiple hits as well.
Ally Andriano struck out seven in her seven innings and allowed just three runs.
A doubleheader with NCAA Division III Wesleyan (Ga.) is up next tomorrow afternoon at home beginning at 2 p.m.
For up-to-the-minute Eagles sports news, follow Reinhardt Athletics on Facebook, @RU_Eagles on Twitter and @ru_eagles on Instagram.
For more information on Reinhardt Softball, please click here.