Now 2-0 for the first time since starting the season with seven straight wins in 2015, the University Heights Academy softball team used a 10-run fifth inning to break a 6-6 tie and close out a 16-6 victory on Thursday over visiting Kenwood, TN.
The Lady Blazers banged out 10 hits, including five with two outs in the final inning, and Katherine Wood settled down after the opening frame to pick up the win in the circle.
Kenwood pushed four runs across with two outs in its first at-bat before UHA answered with three in the bottom of the inning, highlighted by Madison Williams’ RBI double.
Trailing 6-4 in the bottom of the fourth, Olivia Oakley grounded out to bring in a run and a Kenwood error on a Williams’ fly ball allowed her to round the bases and tie the game.
The Lady Blazers didn’t appear to have much going after a pair of strikeouts to start the fifth, but three straight walks set the table for Wood to drive in the go-ahead runs with a single. Oakley followed with a single to score two, an error allowed a run, and Emily Dilday doubled to centerfield to push another across for a 12-6 advantage.
Brooke Hancock and Kennedy Quarles drove in runs with singles, Megan Long drew a bases-loaded walk, and Quarles came home on a wild pitch to end the game.
Oakley finished 3/4 with three RBI, Wood had two hits and drove in two runs, and Williams had two hits and an RBI.
Wood only allowed two runs after the first, scattering three hits with 10 strikeouts and six walks.
Payton Bowser took the loss for Kenwood, surrendering 16 runs, nine earned, on 10 hits with six walks and nine strikeouts. Amiyah Wares had a hit and two RBI for the Knights.
The Lady Blazers will host 8th-district rivals Christian County on Friday. The Lady Colonels will also enter the contest at 2-0 after a 17-1 win over Heritage Christian Academy on Thursday.
