CLEARWATER, FLA. -- The LIU Brooklyn softball team (14-9) started the USF Tournament in Clearwater, by beating Florida Gulf Coast 7-6 on a walkoff hit, then falling 8-1 to Chattanooga in the nightcap. The Blackbirds will begin tomorrow with Buffalo and Towson, as the USF-Michelle Smith Pediatric Cancer Spring Invitational Tournament continues at Clearwater's Eddie C. Moore Softball Complex through Sunday.
LIU 7, FLORIDA GULF COAST 6
The Eagles jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning, when Reedy Davenport hit a grand slam to left field, putting the Blackbirds behind quickly. But immediately, the Blackbirds bounced back with a two-spot in the bottom of the frame when the first two LIU hitters, Patricia Griffin and Schae Dickson, each hit a double. Dickson would score the second run in the inning to make the deficit more manageable at 4-2.
The Blackbirds took the lead in the fourth frame, scoring first on a Griffin single to score freshman Camryn Lyman to make it a one-run game. Then later in the inning, sophomore Kiana Cisneros rocketed a ball down the left field line, scoring two and putting LIU up 5-4.
FGCU tied the game up in the top of the fifth at 5-5, before LIU freshman catcher Alyssa Martinez blasted her first collegiate home run, a blast right over the centerfield fence, for another one run lead, 6-5. The Eagles tied it up again in the top of the sixth inning, but the Blackbirds had one more turn at bat.
In the bottom of the seventh, with the score at 6-6, Martinez led off with a walk. Another first-year player Kristen Blanchard came in to pinch run at first base when her classmate Lyman came up and sent the ball into the left center gap. Blanchard came all the way from first on the hit to score the game winning, walk-off run.
Freshman Elena Valenzuela started the game for LIU, going the first 4.2 innings before junior Tallie Woodson (1-0) came in for the final 2.2 innings to pick up her first win of the season.
Eagles' sophomore Marissa Mesiemore (2-4), who made the start and then re-entered the game in the seventh frame got hit with the loss after allowing the winning run in the seventh. LIU has gone 2-1 against FGCU this season, splitting two games down the coast in Fort Myers at the FGCU Kickoff Classic in early February.
CHATTANOOGA 8, LIU 1
The Blackbirds, playing their first true night game of the season, lost to Chattanooga 8-1, in game two on Friday. LIU starter Victoria Lowe (3-5) and Haley Irvis pitched four innings each, but the Blackbirds couldn't generate a run until the bottom of the seventh inning.
In the eighth, sophomore Kiana Cisneros earned a RBI on a grounder to second, that scored junior Patricia Griffin from third base. Griffin was 3-for-3 in the game at the top of the LIU lineup, while the number two and three hitter, Schae Dickson and Alina Castillo, each had a pair of hits in the game,
Chattanooga (20-5) received a complete game from starter Maria Ramirez (9-0) who earned her ninth win of the season.
USF SATURDAY TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
LIU will play Buffalo (Sat., 2 p.m.) for the first time in program history, followed immediately with a matchup against Towson (Sat., 4:15 p.m.), both at FIeld #8 at Clearwater's Eddie C. Moore Softball Complex, on Saturday,