Monmouth softball participated in Georgia Southern’s Eagle Round Robin in Statesboro, Georgia winning three and losing one.
The Hawks were able to secure a win against Furman on Friday afternoon, 6-1.
Furman took a quick lead, but junior pitcher Alyssa Irons struck out the next three batters. In the bottom of the first, Monmouth went on a hot streak with three consecutive hits.
The Hawks secured the win in the bottom of the sixth inning with a two-run home run from senior first basemen Kayla Rosado.
Rosado went 3-for-4 with two RBI singles and the home run. She leads the team with a .500 batting average and nine RBIs this season.
“Today was a solid team win,” said Head Coach Shannon Salsburg. “Alyssa threw well and the offense did a solid job with our game plan. I was happy with the consistent effort and energy and look forward to continuing to grow tomorrow.”
Monmouth went on to split during Saturday’s matchups. The Hawks pulled off a win against Maryland Saturday afternoon, 2-1.
Junior outfielder Morgan Maziarz had a two-RBI single in the second inning, which ended up being the game-winner.
Irons pitched all seven innings, while giving up no earned runs and striking out five batters.
Monmouth fell to the Georgia Southern Eagles in game two on Saturday, 13-2.
Georgia Southern took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third with an RBI single.
Junior catcher Erika Coreth took the lead for the Hawks with a two-run single in the top of the fourth. The Eagles came back with 12 runs in the bottom of the fourth in order to get the win.
“I was pleased with how we came out in game one,” said Salsburg. “Alyssa threw well, and our hitters found ways to push runs early. We kept pressure on their defense the entire game. In game two, Georgia Southern caught fire in the fourth. We need to continue to work to compete together when our opponent is pushing hard. Tomorrow is a new day. We’ll be ready to finish strong.”
Monmouth went on to close out the weekend in Statesboro with a win against Evansville on Sunday morning.
The Hawks went ahead early in the top of the first. Sophomore utility player Lindsey Baron led off with a walk and senior infielder Sam Tomasetti moved her to third with a single before Baron scored on a double steal.
Utility player Amanda Hopeck singled to bring Tomasetti home making the score, 2-0.
In the top of the third, Hopeck led off with a single and a stolen base. She then scored off a fielding error.
Hopeck went 3-for-4 in Sunday’s win with an RBI single and two runs. In ten games this season, Rosado is batting .457 (16-for-35) with 11 RBIs.
Hopeck is the second on the team with a .375 batting average this season.
Irons has 41 complete games in 43 starts over her last two seasons. She’s gone 34-14 with a 1.58 ERA in that span.
“What a great way to end the weekend,” said Salsburg. “From start to finish, we played well as a team. I loved how Alyssa and [catcher] Erika [Coreth] attacked their batters. Overall, we learned a lot, fixed some things from last week, and showed continued growth towards who we want to become May.”
The Hawks move to 5-5 for the season after this weekend’s games.
Monmouth will participate in the Coastal Carolina Invitational next weekend in Conway, South Carolina. They will face Maryland Eastern Shore and Coastal Carolina on Friday, Ohio and USC Upstate on Saturday, and will go up against Maryland Eastern Shore once again on Sunday.
PHOTO COURTESY of Monmouth Athletics
