The Fairleigh Dickinson University softball team came back to defeat University of Wisconsin- Green Bay for its first win of the season on Sunday afternoon, 4-3, at the Rebel Spring Games in Kissimmee, FL. Earlier in the day, the Knights fell to Dayton, 6-1.
Ali Keltos (Shelton, CT/Lauralton Hall) plated the game-winning run in the seventh inning against Green Bay. Trailing 3-2, Knights came back in the bottom of the seventh as Maria Finnegan (Sewell, NJ/Washington Township) started the rally with a pinch hit leadoff single. A sacrifice from Justina Augustine (Geneva, NY/Geneva) advanced the runners and Brianne Benedict (Alliance, OH/West Branch) smacked a huge hit with an RBI triple. Keltos then gave the Knights the win.
Wisconsin started the game with an early run in the top of the first inning. The Knights knotted the score in the bottom of the second as Lindsay Glidden (Peachtree City, GA/Starr's Mill) singled to right center. Hope Hilman (Bremerton, WA/Olympic) advanced her with a sacrifice hit and Kristen Coughlan (Mount Royal, NJ/Kingsway) doubled to center to push her across the plate.
UWGB picked up a pair in the fourth inning, but FDU responded in the bottom half as Hilman had an inside the park home run.
“That was a great win for us,” said Head Coach Dale Martin. “We were able to show our resiliency. We came back from a deficit and kept fighting back. We didn't allow any big innings and made the plays we needed to make to come through.”
Keltos finished the game 3-for-4, while Meghan Doherty (Binghamton, NY/Binghamton) was 2-for-3. The Knights recorded 11 hits for the game.
Trina Fields (Norridge, IL/Ridgewood) earned her first win of the season, pitching a complete game, scattering four hits and striking out two.
In the first game of the day, Dayton picked up runs in the first and second innings. FDU responded with a run in the fifth inning to make it a 2-1 game. Glidden started things off with a single to center field. Coughlan followed with a single and Finnegan reached on a fielding error. A fielder's choice put Keltos at first and with two outs, Benedict was hit by a pitch to score Coughlan.
But Dayton sealed the win with a four-run fifth inning. Ashley Buchanan (West Windsor, NY/West Windsor) was on the mound for the Knights.
“We had opportunities,” said Martin. “We had the bases loaded twice and needed some timely hitting, but didn't get it.”
“In that game, we really needed to go back to some of the fundamentals and execute. We gave up a big inning again and that's something that we need to prevent in order to win.”
FDU returns to action on Monday, March 17 with games against Army at 9:00 a.m. and Siena and 11:00 a.m.
