Tigers take two in East Carolina
By: Payam Agha-Ghassem, Staff Writer
The Towson Tigers used an extra-inning rally Saturday to beat the Bucknell Bison 7-2 in Greenville, North Carolina. With the win, the Tigers improve to 5-1 on the season.
Senior pitcher Missy McCormick notched her second win of the season, throwing all eight innings and allowing no earned runs. The Bison (5-3) got their first and only hit off McCormick in the sixth inning.
The game was scoreless until the sixth inning. The Tigers scored the first run of the game with the help of an RBI double by sophomore infielder Holiday Cahill. Cahill went 3-for-4 at the plate. The Bison responded in the bottom half of the sixth and tied the game on an error.
However, the Tigers blew the game wide open in the eighth inning, scoring six runs on three hits. Senior infielder Hailey Balk drove in the go-ahead run with a single to right field. Balk finished the game 2-for-4.
“It was a bit of a pitcher’s duel for the entire game, but we made the adjustments that we had to make to beat another solid team,” Balk said.
This was Balk’s second game of the season after she was unable to play in last weekend’s season-opening games.
“It’s easy when you have the same, simple approach every at-bat,” Balk said. “I’m just worried about getting a good pitch to hit every time I step in the box, so it felt like I was just picking up where I left off from last season.”
McCormick sealed the win in the eighth inning by forcing a popout.
On Friday, the Tigers played a doubleheader against the East Tennessee State Pirates and the Marshall Herd. The Tigers fell 9-1 to the Pirates (5-5), but they were able to bounce back and beat the Herd (8-1) by a score of 3-1.
Freshman Megan Dejter improved to 2-0 on the year by throwing a complete game and striking out four. After two starts, her earned run average stands at 0.91.
The Herd took the early 1-0 in the first inning. The score remained 1-0 until the fifth inning when Cahill tied the game up with a solo home run to center field.
Three batters later, sophomore outfielder Jessica South gave the Tigers a 2-1 lead with a single to right-center field.
Freshman infielder Brook Miko continued her hot hitting and doubled down the right field line to extend the Tigers’ lead to 3-1.
After six games, Miko leads the team with a .429 average.
The Tigers travel to Greensboro North Carolina this weekend to take part in the UNC Greensboro Spartan Classic.
