Bryant girls rally past Belles in extra innings
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SHERWOOD — Kelly Bennett’s two-out RBI single in the top of the eighth inning and some clutch pitching by Jennifer Smith in the bottom of the inning lifted the Bryant Lady Hornets to a 3-1 season-opening victory over the Mount St. Mary’s Belles Thursday, March 8.
Bennett’s single drove home Lindsey Stone who had opened the eighth with a walk. The next two Lady Hornets struck out before Bennett came through with the tie-breaking hit. Bennett later scored as well.
In the bottom of the inning, Smith surrendered a lead-off double but she struck out two around a groundout to third to preserve the victory.
The Lady Hornets cracked eight hits to the Belles’ three. Smith walked four and fanned six.
Mount St. Mary’s scored its lone run in the second inning on a one-out single and a two-out error.
Bryant had runners on base in three of the first four innings. In the first, Stone cracked a one-out single but was stranded; in the third, Andrea Hammock singled with two down but was left on; and in the fourth, Mistica Phillips singled and advanced to second on an error with one out only to be left there.
Finally, in the fifth, the Lady Hornets broke through to tie the game. With one out, Lindsey Sullivan, Stacy Workman and Hammock each singled to load the bases for Stone, who drove in the tying run with a base hit. But the Belles got out of the inning before the Lady Hornets could take the lead.
Smith worked around a walk and an error in the bottom of the fifth then a lead-off walk in the sixth and a two-out walk in the seventh.
Meanwhile, the Lady Hornets went down in order in each of those frames as the game went to extra innings.
Stone and Hammock each had two hits for the Lady Hornets.
