Brock Netter, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
CHILLICOTHE — When the bats aren’t quite getting the job done, you rely on your pitching and defense to get over the hump.
CREDIT: Marissa Spradlin/SOSA
Southeastern (5-1) made few mistakes defensively and gave pitcher Erin Richendollar just enough run support to earn a 3-1 victory over Clay in non-conference action on Tuesday.
“I thought our defense was pretty good, and it’s always going to be good anytime Erin is hitting her spots,” Southeastern coach Chris Skaggs said. “Our offense wasn’t great. We didn’t collect a lot of hits and that’s softball, sometimes. We had a game plan coming in, but we had to reverse course since things weren’t completely clicking. But we did enough to win.”
Richendollar struck out seven hitters and only surrendered five hits throughout the evening. However, two of those hits came in the opening inning and allowed Clay (0-4) to seize early momentum.
After a leadoff single from Adrienne Whitely, Shea Edgington ripped an RBI single through the left side of the infield to score Whitley and put the Panthers ahead 1-0.
Southeastern, however, had no issues responding.
Ally Fisher led off with a bunt single, and later scored on a passed ball to tie the game. Richendollar smoked a triple into right-center field before later scoring on another passed ball to give SE a 2-1 lead.
From that point forward, it was all about pitching and defense for both teams.
PHOTOS: Images from Southeastern’s win over Clay
“I know the defense has my back, so it takes a lot of pressure off my shoulders. But I still have to do my job as well,” Richendollar said. “There are times I let a runner on base or let a base hit get away, so I know I have to be locked in. But I know my teammates are right there with me.”
Richendollar and Clay’s Sarah Cassidy took turns mowing through each other’s lineups with relative ease as their defense made plays behind them.
Southeastern left two runners on base in the bottom of the third, while Clay left a runner stranded in the fourth.
“Give Clay credit. They came in and hit the ball pretty well,” Skaggs said. “But we have a really close team that plays for one another and enjoys playing the game. They compete tough every night and the results have shown that so far.”
Heading into the bottom of the sixth, after Clay missed what felt like a golden opportunity by leaving two runners on base, Skaggs asked his team to get just one run to add a cushion.
Grace Wireman led off with a double, followed by an infield single from Richendollar. The Panthers then decided to intentionally walk Jozy Lougheed, which brought Rowan Ruckel to the dish.
With the bases loaded, Ruckel delivered a sacrifice fly to center field, tallying the final run of the contest before Richendollar retired Clay in order to seal a win.
“I wasn’t really nervous going into that at-bat. That’s really not who I am,” Ruckel said. “I knew that I needed a hit and that someone was going to score. Our energy wasn’t great all game. We sort of played on the same level as Clay did. But we came out with a win, so we’ll take it.”
In addition to her performance in the circle, Richendollar also went 2-for-3 at the dish with a triple and a run scored. Wireman was 2-for-3 with a double and a run, Fisher went 1-for-3 with a run scored and Ruckel finished 0-for-2 with an RBI.
For Clay, Cassidy suffered the loss in a complete game effort, allowing three earned runs and striking out three batters. Edgington finished 2-for-2 with an RBI.
Southeastern returns to the diamond on Wednesday in SVC play, hosting Piketon. Clay will also play again Wednesday, traveling to East in SOC I action.
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