ORLANDO, Fla. - The LIU Brooklyn softball team suffered two tough one-run losses on the first day of competition at the UCF Invitational on Friday. The Blackbirds had a late rally that fell just short in a 3-2 defeat at the hands of South Dakota, then had a 4-1 lead evaporate in a 5-4, extra-inning loss to North Florida.
In the first contest of the day, the Coyotes jumped out to 1-0 lead in the top of the first as Yvon Mynogue doubled to lead off and came around to score on a two-out single by Sydney Hancock. USD bumped the margin to 3-0 in the second when a walk and three straight singles - all with two outs - produced a pair of runs.
The Blackbirds got on the board in the bottom of the third when senior
Whitney West tripled to start the inning. The three-base hit was West's third this season and the 16th of her career to place her in sole possession of third place on the career list, just two behind Terri Claudio (1986-89). The West Hills, Calif. native was driven in a batter later on a sacrifice fly from
Victoria Zamora that put the score at 3-1.
LIU Brooklyn had a prime chance to inch closer in the sixth, as Zamora worked a leadoff walk. Two batters later, senior
Celinna Cosio registered her second hit of the day and junior
Kylie Mulholland was hit by a pitch to load the bases with just one out. But the Blackbirds could not get a key hit and the deficit remained two heading to the seventh.
After sophomore
Erynn Sobieski worked around a leadoff double to keep South Dakota off the board, LIU put its leadoff batter on when senior Ashley Sandoval-Colon singled to left. With two down and the Blackbirds down to their final out, Zamora drilled a run-scoring double to right center to score Sandoval-Colon and pull LIU to within one. After a pitching change, sophomore
Angie Vazquez stepped to the plate and hit a hard grounder to the left side. The USD shortstop, however, made the play to end the threat and the game.
Later in the afternoon, LIU Brooklyn fell behind on an unearned run in the bottom of the first but responded with a pair of runs to take the lead in the second. Mulholland singled with one out and Sandoval-Colon reached on an error to put two on. Two batters later, junior
Kayla Gloady came through with a two-run single to give the Blackbirds a 2-1 lead.
The third inning produced another run for LIU, as Vazquez doubled and eventually came around to score on another base hit from Mulholland. In the fifth, the Blackbirds loaded the bases with one out, and a walk to Sandoval-Colon forced home a run to put the score at 4-1. With an opportunity to break the game open, freshman
Schae Dickson hit a rocket to third that was stopped on a diving play to end the inning.
The defensive play shifted momentum in the direction of the Ospreys, as they came back to tie the game in the bottom of the inning. A two-run double from Jenna Brownell was the big blow in the frame as the contest moved to the sixth tied at 4-4. LIU went down in order in each of the next two innings, while UNF loaded the bases in each inning. Sobieski, however, was able to get out of each jam as the game moved to extra innings.
With the international tiebreaker rule placing a runner on second to start each inning, the Blackbirds were unable to advance the runner in their half of the eighth. In the bottom half, LIU was able to record the first two outs before a chopper went over the head of an infielder to drive home the game-winning run for UNF.
LIU Brooklyn returns to action on Saturday, Mar. 5 against La Salle and UCF. The Blackbirds will take on the Explorers at 3:30 p.m., then the host Knights later in the evening at 8:00 p.m.