DAYTON, Ohio - For
the third time in four games it took extra innings for a Green Bay (20-16, 6-10)
softball game to be decided as the Phoenix fell 8-7 in eight innings at Wright
State (19-24, 10-7) in game one of a double-header Saturday afternoon.
Katie Cooney (East Moline, Ill.) hit an RBI single down the
right field line in the first inning to score Sara Junion (Sevastopol, Wis.)
and give Green Bay the 1-0 lead. Wright State also scored in the first after a
throwing error by the Phoenix.
Green Bay went three up and three down in the second before
the Raiders took the 2-1 lead after Briauna Birl stole home.
The Phoenix tied it up in the fourth when Alli Rivera
(Geneseo, Ill.) hit an RBI single down the right field line to score Dani
Peerenboom (Kimberly, Wis.) and make it 2-2. Wright State took a 4-2 lead into
the fifth inning where Green Bay put three runs on the board.
With one out, Peerenboom hit an RBI double to center field
scoring Junion and Jenna Nitti (Green Bay, Wis.) tying the game 4-4. Cooney had
her second RBI in the game after she singled to left center field scoring
Melani Niederer (New Munster, Wis.) to give the Phoenix the 5-4 lead.
Wright State tied it in the bottom of the fifth before both
teams added a pair of runs in the sixth to send the game into extra innings.
The Phoenix stranded two runners on base in the eighth before Wright State
scored the winning, unearned run with two outs.
In the loss Cooney had three hits and two RBIs off four
plate appearances while Peerenboom had two hits, two RBIs and one run from
behind the plate. Freshman pitcher Tieraney Planasch (Juneau, Wis.) falls to
2-3 on the season from the mound. The Phoenix finished the game with seven runs
off 10 hits while committing six errors.
In game two the Phoenix pounded in 13 runs compared to
Wright State's 9 to snap its seven-game winning streak. Green Bay scored four
runs in the first thanks to RBI singles by Katie Cooney and Kendra Woepse
(Manitowoc, Wis.), and an RBI double by Rivera.
The Phoenix added three more runs in the second to boost its
lead 7-0 thanks to a three-run homer by Peerenboom with one out. In the bottom
of the inning Wright State scored six runs to cut Green Bay's lead to one (7-6).
The Phoenix added six more runs throughout four innings. Peerenboom
had two RBIs in the third scoring Junion and Woepse for the 9-6 advantage with
two outs. After an RBI single by Woepse
in the fourth, Green Bay tacked on three more in the sixth. With Peerenboom on
base Cooney hit her third home run of the season. Ashleigh Racer (Waterford,
Wis.) later hit an RBI single to center field as the Phoenix split today's
games against the Raiders.
Green Bay finished with 13 runs off 14 hits and three errors
as ace pitcher Katie Cooney improves to 6-8 on the season.
The series will wrap up tomorrow morning at 10:00 before
Green Bay returns home for a double-header against North Dakota on Tuesday,
Apr. 27 beginning at 2:00.
---www.GreenBayPhoenix.com---
