MOBILE, Ala. - The University of Mobile Softball program, who ranks No. 3 overall in the NAIA, hosted the seventh-ranked Crusaders of William Carey on Tuesday evening, Apr. 19 for a conference doubleheader. The two teams entered Tuesday sitting atop the current SSAC Softball standings, with Mobile just two games ahead of William Carey, while both being ranked inside the top 10 in the latest NAIA Softball Coaches' Top 25 Poll.
Additionally, Mobile swept William Carey back on Apr. 1 in two games on their home field in Hattiesburg, Miss. With major conference implications on the line, Tuesday's doubleheader proved to be the one of the most important matchups of the 2022 season for both teams thus far and saw the teams split the results in front of the largest crowd of the season at the UM Softball Field. Mobile managed to use a walk-off in extra innings in game one for the afternoon's first victory, but later fell to William Carey in game two.
Game One Recap - (7) William Carey 3, (3) Mobile 4 (9 Innings)
On a beautiful Tuesday afternoon, conference rivals met again at the UM Softball Field for the final regular season meeting of the season between the two programs and saw a pitcher's dual through the first three innings. After a scoreless start through the first three, William Carey scored the first run of the game in the top of the fourth inning. However, Chloe Buck and the Rams answered the lone Crusader run in the bottom half of the fourth as Buck managed to bloop an RBI double down the right field line. With the score nodded up at one run a piece, two of the best pitchers in the NAIA continued to dazzle throughout game one.
Brinkley Goff of Mobile and Haley Nations of William Carey both entered Tuesday with a sub-one ERA on the season. Nations' ERA sat .03 points better than Goff's at 0.94 as Goff's sat at 0.97 to start game one. Following both pitchers allowing a run in the fourth inning, another run did not cross home plate again until the seventh inning.
The Crusaders managed to score the go-ahead run in the seventh and final inning, but just like the fourth inning, the Rams answered in the bottom half to keep the game alive and force extra innings. Katie Head lined a single up the middle to drive in the tying run and tie the game 2-2 going into the eighth inning.
After a scoreless eighth and with both starting pitchers still in the game going into the ninth inning, William Carey once again pushed across a go-ahead run in the top half. Mobile followed the Crusaders' lone run by answering for the third time in the game as back-to-back errors by the William Carey shortstop came back to haunt the Crusaders. Kaylee Pullin reached first base on the first misplayed grounder by Maranda Busby of William Carey, which allowed the tying run to score in the bottom of the ninth inning. Caitlin McRee then grounded one the following at-bat to Busby, who misplayed another routine play to advance Pullin to second base. Eila Infante followed McRee's at-bat with a hard single up the middle to score Kaylee Pullin and win the game for Mobile in walk-off fashion, the first walk-off victory of the season for the Rams.
As the team and the fans exploded with excitement, sportsmanship took precedence immediately following the walk-off celebration as a player for William Carey was injured on the final play. The conference rivals huddled together around the second base bag to say a prayer for the injured player as the crowd also became dead silent. William Carey's injured player was helped off the field by University of Mobile Head Athletic Trainer Jake Lewis as both teams would then prepare for game two.
Brinkley Goff pitched all nine innings in the game one win, improving her season record to 17-0 from the pitcher's circle. Goff allowed three runs in the game, while striking out three batters. The complete game victory was her 10th this season from the circle.
Game Two Recap - (7) William Carey 5, (3) Mobile 0
In game two, Mobile struggled to find the strike zone early in the game as head coach Alison Sellers-Cook went to two freshman pitchers in game two. Emily Butts, who has been one of Mobile's top pitchers this season, was listed as inactive prior to Tuesday's doubleheader. With Butts absent and Goff being awarded the game one start, Sydnee Fitzgerald got the nod in game two.
William Carey forced Fitzgerald to throw a lot of pitches early in the game, pushing across one run in the top of the first inning. The following inning, the Crusaders managed to score four runs before Sellers-Cook brought in another freshman pitcher in Avery Johnston. Fitzgerald finished with a line of 1 2/3 innings of work while walking three and throwing 43 pitches. She was hit with all five runs the Crusaders scored in game two. Avery Johnston pitched well, never allowing a hit or another run to score for William Carey. Johnston did allow three walks across her 5 1/3 innings of relief work, but stranded all three runners.
Mobile's offense struggled to get anything going as the Rams recorded four hits, but nothing to show for them. Mobile was eventually shut out by the Crusaders 5-0 in game two as the two teams split Tuesday's doubleheader.
The game one win for Mobile was huge for the Rams as Mobile owns three victories over William Carey in four games this season. The Rams are now just a few conference wins away from winning the 2022 SSAC Softball Regular Season Championship and earning the No. 1 seed in the upcoming SSAC Softball Championship Tournament in Decatur, Ala.
The Rams have four games remaining on the current schedule, all four at home. Mobile is scheduled to host Blue Mountain College at 3:00 p.m. CT on Friday, Apr. 22 at the UM Softball Field, with a doubleheader against Stillman College scheduled for the following day at 12:00 p.m. CT. Saturday's doubleheader against Stillman is also the Rams' scheduled senior day. Mobile enters this weekend's action with a 38-2 overall record and 20-2 conference record.
Mobile and Faulkner have yet to decide if they will makeup the postponed doubleheader in Montgomery, Ala. a week ago. A decision is expected by the end of this week.
About the University of Mobile
The University of Mobile is a Christ-centered liberal arts and sciences institution with a vision of higher education for a higher purpose, founded to honor God by equipping students for their future professions through rigorous academic preparation and spiritual transformation. Core values are: Christ-Centered, Academically-Focused, Student-Devoted and Distinctively-Driven. The university offers on-campus and online bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in over 75 academic programs. Founded in 1961, the University of Mobile is affiliated with the Alabama Baptist State Convention and is located 10 miles north of Mobile, Alabama on a campus of over 880 acres.
For information about the University of Mobile, areas of study, admissions and more, visit umobile.edu, connect with UM on social media @univofmobile, or call Enrollment Services at 1.800.WIN.RAMS or 251.442.2222.
