Wright State’s softball team won three of five games last week in the Chattanooga Spring Classic to improve upon their 1-4 record from the Kick-Off Classic in Boca Raton, Florida the week before.
The Raiders (4-6) got right to work with IPFW (2-7) on Feb. 19 as they scored six runs in the first three innings while senior pitcher Montana Wear picked up the win after giving up five hits in 4.2 innings. Despite IPFW having the game-tying runs on base in the final inning, WSU won 6-4 to end a four-game losing streak.
“Our goal was to win the series and we won the series this weekend” Raiders head coach Lynn Curylo said. “I think our defense overall is still working on getting comfortable out there, but more than anything, I think we have to credit to our pitching staff, they’ve been getting the job done.”
Later in the day, WSU fell 4-3 in extra-innings to the host Chattanooga (8-2). Sophomore Ashton Salyers was hit by a pitch in the seventh inning and scored a game-tying run after sophomore Macey Gunther grounded out to force extras. In the eighth inning, a lead-off double, then single put the winning run across the plate.
The Raiders fell 3-2 to UT Martin (6-2) on Saturday, Feb. 20 after a three-run seventh inning by the Equestrians, but bounced back later in the day with a 5-2 win against the University of Dayton (2-2). WSU trailed UD 2-1 in the fourth inning before an RBI single by senior Hannah Floyd and an RBI walk by junior Becka Peterson gave the Raiders a lead for the remainder of the game.
In the final game of the tournament on Sunday, Feb. 21, freshman pitcher Ally Russell only gave up three hits and one run as she pitched the whole game in a 3-1 victory over Chattanooga. She retired 16 of the last 17 batters she faced.
“It was a really big win for her,” Curylo said. “It was her first collegiate win and on top of that it was against the 2015 SOCON champs.”
Wright State will look to add to their two-game winning streak in the Samford Tournament in Birmingham Alabama on Saturday, Feb. 27 as they play both Tennessee Tech and Stamford twice with double-headers on Saturday and Sunday. The first game will begin at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
