Softball: Temple Stops Rockets Rally
March 08, 2010
Toledo scored in bunches, but the Owls hung on.
Courtesy of University of Toledo Media Relations
11, 
10
Clearwater, Fla. — Trailing by five runs in their final at bat, Toledo's softball team rallied to tie the score at 10, only to allow a run in the bottom of the seventh to fall, 11-10, against Temple Sunday at the Under Armour Invitational.
Sophomore SS Brooke Gates, senior 3B Mica Sanchez and sophomore 1B Jillian Spink all homered for the Rockets (1-9), who dropped their fifth straight contest.
The Owls (4-5) scored four times in the bottom of the sixth to build a 10-5 advantage. Junior CF Kate Ricchio led off the Rockets' seventh with a double, and junior 2B Sam Toy reached on an error. Gates proceeded to launch her second home run in as many days to bring Toledo to within 10-8, still with no one out.
After Sanchez flew out, freshman Erinn Wright was hit by a pitch, and Spink blasted her first home run of the season and second of her career to even the score at 10.
But the Rockets could not push across a go-ahead run, and in the bottom of the seventh, Temple's Kayla Cook came up with two on and two out and singled to left to end it.
Toledo led throughout the early innings, as freshman C Morgan Smith's RBI double scored Sanchez, and Smith herself came in to score on freshman RF Audrey Harner's basehit to make it 2-0 in the second.
In the third, Gates manufactured a run after walking and stealing both second and third. Sanchez came through with a two-out single to score the sophomore as Toledo extended its lead to 3-0.
Temple surged, though, with a run in the bottom of the third and five more tallies in the fourth to make it 6-3.The Rockets didn't go quietly, though, as Sanchez's two-run blast - her first since her freshman year in 2007 - brought Toledo to within one. The Owls plated four runs in the sixth to set up the dramatics in the seventh.
Ricchio, Sanchez, Smith and Harner each had two-hit efforts, while Gates and Sanchez both led the way with three RBI.
The 10 runs by the team were the most since a 12-4 win over Youngstown State on April 8, 2009. The three home runs were the most the team has hit in a single game since the Rockets clubbed four on April 22, 2007.
11, 10Clearwater, Fla. — Trailing by five runs in their final at bat, Toledo's softball team rallied to tie the score at 10, only to allow a run in the bottom of the seventh to fall, 11-10, against Temple Sunday at the Under Armour Invitational.
Sophomore SS Brooke Gates, senior 3B Mica Sanchez and sophomore 1B Jillian Spink all homered for the Rockets (1-9), who dropped their fifth straight contest.
The Owls (4-5) scored four times in the bottom of the sixth to build a 10-5 advantage. Junior CF Kate Ricchio led off the Rockets' seventh with a double, and junior 2B Sam Toy reached on an error. Gates proceeded to launch her second home run in as many days to bring Toledo to within 10-8, still with no one out.
After Sanchez flew out, freshman Erinn Wright was hit by a pitch, and Spink blasted her first home run of the season and second of her career to even the score at 10.
But the Rockets could not push across a go-ahead run, and in the bottom of the seventh, Temple's Kayla Cook came up with two on and two out and singled to left to end it.
Toledo led throughout the early innings, as freshman C Morgan Smith's RBI double scored Sanchez, and Smith herself came in to score on freshman RF Audrey Harner's basehit to make it 2-0 in the second.
In the third, Gates manufactured a run after walking and stealing both second and third. Sanchez came through with a two-out single to score the sophomore as Toledo extended its lead to 3-0.
Temple surged, though, with a run in the bottom of the third and five more tallies in the fourth to make it 6-3.The Rockets didn't go quietly, though, as Sanchez's two-run blast - her first since her freshman year in 2007 - brought Toledo to within one. The Owls plated four runs in the sixth to set up the dramatics in the seventh.
Ricchio, Sanchez, Smith and Harner each had two-hit efforts, while Gates and Sanchez both led the way with three RBI.
The 10 runs by the team were the most since a 12-4 win over Youngstown State on April 8, 2009. The three home runs were the most the team has hit in a single game since the Rockets clubbed four on April 22, 2007.