Poet softball sweep doubleheader against Royals; Sophomore Micka Gonzalez hits walk-off 3-run homerun

Dana Barraco, hope international, Issue 17, women's softball doubleheader royals, Sports - By Dana Barraco on Thursday, February 9, 2012 - 04:11

In an exciting doubleheader on Wednesday, Feb. 8, the Poet Women’s softball starts the season off right with two wins against Hope International University. The home opener started off a little flat but the Poets stepped up their game just in time to succeed in a 7-6 victory over the Royals.

In game one, the Poets played offensively weak, resulting in 4 runs for the Royals, but came back in the second inning with three consecutive defensive outs against Hope. After a shaky fourth inning, the score remained stagnant for the Poets at 4-1 in favor of the Royals. Head Coach Shelley Whitaker changed up her game plan by switching pitchers in the fifth inning replacing junior starting pitcher Jessica Rosnack with sophomore pitcher Courtney DeLano. It was a good switch, but not enough to keep the Royals from bringing in two more runs, leaving the score 6-3 for Royals at the end of the sixth inning.

At the start of the seventh, senior outfielder Nikki Mendoza stole third base after a hit that landed her at second and later scored on a nice hit from fellow junior infielder Courtney Grana. The Poets got pumped up as sophomore utility player Micka Gonzalez made a clutch play by hitting a walk-off homerun allowing for first-year outfielder Erica Lespron and senior infielder Denisse Martinez to score and securing the winning points for the Poets. The final score of the first game was 7-6 in favor of the Poets.

For game two, the Poets came out strong defensively and ready to play. Hope International tallied up 2 runs in the first inning, but by the end of the second, the Poets led the game 3-2 due to a great play involving sophomore infielder Jordan Learn, who hit a ball outside, bringing in both her teammates first-years utility player Emi Shimamoto and infielder Samantha Mellano. For the third inning, Gonzales hit an homerun bringing in her fellow teammate senior infielder Brenda Thompson to put the Poets ahead at 5-2.

For the end of the fifth, Gonzales made another spectacular play resulting in a point for the Poets. Additionally, a great play by Shimamoto with Gonzaleson secondput the Poets even farther ahead at 7-2.

Unfortunately, the Royals picked up their game and scored 4 runs in the seventh inning. Overall, and especially in this last inning, the Poet defense played smart and efficient, effectively forcing outs while getting a couple double plays. With the bases loaded, sophomore pitcher Anna Cade came in and pitched for the Poets. The Royals’ ball went straight to Brenda Thompson at 3rd for the final out of the game.

The final score was 7-6 for the Poets in their second game of the double header against Hope International.

Poets Softball will battle La Verne at home on Saturday, Feb. 11 at noon and 2 p.m.