ROSEMONT, Ill. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) – The Green Bay softball team continued its season at the Total Control Invitational this afternoon, taking the diamond against invitational co-host Loyola and IUPUI. The Phoenix (3-4) earned a convincing 7-3 win over the Ramblers (3-2) in game one, followed by a loss to Jaguars (2-5), 6-2.
Green Bay 7, Loyola 3
Tournament co-host Loyola (3-2) came out swinging to open the Total Control invitational, plating one run in the first inning after an error was committed by the Phoenix that allowed the Ramblers' Brooke Wyderski to touch home. After the defensive miscue, Green Bay managed to get the final out of the inning and minimize the damage to only a single run.
Both squads would go scoreless through the second inning, as Loyola would carry its 1-0 lead into the third. Green Bay's Alanna Beyer led things off and was granted first base after being hit by a pitch. Following Beyer's HBP, the Phoenix rattled off seven hits to take command of the game and build a 7-3 lead. Six of the seven hits in the inning came in a row and five of them collected at least one RBI. Freshmen Acacia Tupa and Jenna Smarzinski accounted for four of the seven RBIs in the inning.
Loyola attempted to mount a comeback in the fifth inning by plating a pair off a single and a wild pitch to bring the Ramblers within two runs, 7-3, but freshman Tessa Mikkelson came on in relief of Bailey Smaney and finished the final 2.1 innings without allowing a single run, securing a 7-3 decision for the Phoenix and collected her first save.
Smaney (2-1) was credited the win and spent 4.2 innings in the circle for the Phoenix in game one of the Total Control Invitational, allowing five hits, two earned runs and collecting a career-high five strikeouts.
Senior Kelli Hutchinson and junior Abby Brinkmeier each went 2-for-4 in game one, while sophomore Allie Hislope went 2-for-3 and collected one RBI.
IUPUI 6, Green Bay 2
The Phoenix got off slow to start in the second game of the day, one that had been postponed from its original start time of 4:30 p.m. due to the high winds surrounding the dome. The first pitch ended up being thrown out at 7:30 p.m. and the Jaguars were primed for play.
IUPUI brought two runs home in the first inning, sparked by a triple from the Jaguars' Mosier to lead things off. The Jaguars used four hits in the opening inning to collect its 2-0 lead, one that would not be lost the remainder of the game.
Green Bay would see IUPUI add three runs in the fourth inning and another in the top of the sixth before getting a run to cross the plate in the bottom of the sixth. Trailing 6-0, Green Bay was given life after the Jaguars committed back-to-back errors at first base and Smarzinski singled to short, providing the Phoenix with two runners on and two outs in the inning. Needing a spark, Brennan Engel was called upon to pinch hit with the Phoenix facing a six-run deficit. The freshman did not disappoint, sending one straight up the middle to bring Taylor in from second and get Green Bay on the board.
The Phoenix would once again attempt to rally in the seventh, but its attempts would fall short. The team managed to add another run to its tally on a Tupa single down the left field line that plated Hutchinson, but it would fall short of the five needed runs and fall, 6-2, to the IUPUI.
The Phoenix will return to action in the Total Control Invitational tomorrow afternoon, taking on Western Illinois at 2 p.m. followed by a matchup with Eastern Kentucky at 7 p.m.
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