DECATUR, Ala. –The Lander softball team encountered another tough day at the 23-team Ringor Charger Chillout Invitational Saturday afternoon at Wilson Morgan Park when the Bearcats lost to No. 26 University of Indianapolis, 3-2, in extra innings, then to Ohio Dominican, 4-3, after rallying for three runs in the final inning. The tournament is hosted by the University of Alabama-Huntsville.
Lander moves to 6-6 overall.
In the first game, Lander took a 1-0 lead in the fifth when Brittany Sheriff singled to left field, advanced to second on Taylor Donson's left field single, and scored on Jaime Presnell's RBI single to center
field.
The Greyhounds overtook the Bearcats 2-1 in the bottom of the inning on Casey Williamson's solo homer and Alexa Alfaro's score on a bases-loaded throwing error from third.
Lander tied it at 2-2 in the sixth on Amanda Mendolia's RBI double to centerfield that plated Arielle Buchholz.
Indianapolis scored the winning run when DeVyn Barker was put on second base due to the international tiebreaker, advanced to third on a passed ball, and scored on Briana Clark's sacrifice fly to right field.
Indianapolis' Jennifer DeMotte (3-0) earned the win in relief with three strikeouts in 2.1 innings pitched.
Lander's Hayley Leissner (5-2) suffered the loss in relief with two strikeouts, one walk and one unearned run on no hits.
For Lander, Mendolia batted 1-for-2 with one double and one RBI.
For Indianapolis, Williamson went 2-for-4 with one homerun and Cori Eckerle batted 1-for-3 with one double.
In the second game, Ohio Dominican (2-1) took advantage of two Lander errors in the first inning and jumped out to a 2-0 advantage on runs by Alex Cribari and Erin Sutter.
The Panthers stretched the margin to 4-0 in the fourth when Caitlin Jividen and Kelsey Seeds both singled and advanced on a Rebekha Lucas single. Jividen scored on an error at the plate and Seeds went home on a passed ball.
Lander scored three runs in the seventh on Heather Yoder's RBI double and Sarah Fuller's two-run homer.
Leissner (5-3) took the loss with one walk and one hit by pitch and was relieved by Kelsley Davis, who struck out three, walked one and allowed two unearned runs in seven innings.
For Lander, Fuller went 3-for-3.
For Ohio Dominican, Brooke McCartney batted 2-for-4.
