Late Comeback Attempt Falls Short to Villanova

Sunday, February 25

Madeira Beach, Fla.

10:30 A.M.

Kent State University

7-3

Villanova

2-3

Villanova

Kent State

Photo by: Sue Eckl

Late Comeback Attempt Falls Short to Villanova

2/25/2018 3:30:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. – Kent State's (7-3) late inning comeback attempt fell short to the Villanova Wildcats (2-3) on Sunday morning at the EMU Madeira Beach Tournament. Kent State tried to muster a comeback in the sixth and seventh frames, but fell, 4-2. The Flashes bats were highlighted by Allie Luther's 2-for-2 performance with a solo home run and a walk.

"Credit to Villanova for outplaying us today," said Kent State head coach Eric Oakley. "Despite the setback 7-3 is a good start for us and we look to bounce back next week."

How It Happened

Kent State scored first as Luther clubbed her third dinger of the season to left center in the bottom of the second.

In the top half of the third the Wildcats scored all four of their runs with two outs. Brittany Husk hit a double to right which brought in two to give the Wildcats the lead and Anissa Amarillas cracked a home run to right to cap the four-run frame.

Maria Cegledy hit a bloop single to left center in the bottom of the fourth with two outs, for her first career RBI which sent Luther in to score.

Kent State mounted two comeback attempts in the sixth and seventh innings. Luther and Cader both registered infield singles in the sixth but were left stranded. Kennadie Goth singled to left to start of the seventh, but the Wildcats retired the next three hitters.

Brenna Brownfield (1-1) started for the Flashes and was tagged with the loss. She went 2.2 innings allowing four hits and four earned runs. Villanova's big inning was the only blemish for Brownfield as she retired the first six hitters she faced.

Madi Huck threw 4.1 innings out of the bulloen and allowed five hits with zero runs and three strikeouts.

Flash Facts

- Holly Speers was 8-for-13 (.615) on the weekend with two home runs, a double, eight RBIs, six runs scored and five walks. With the two bombs Speers has 34 for her career and is two away from tying Jessica Carmichael (2008-2011) and Jamie Fitzpatrick (2005-08) for second most in program history.

- Luther finished the weekend 4-for-11 (.364) with two bombs, three RBIs, a walk and five runs scored.

- In her first weekend of play, Kennadie Goth was 7-for-12 (.583) with two doubes and two runs scored.

- Madi Huck threw 16.2 innings allowing only one earned run and picked up two wins.

- Kent State outscored its opponents, 27-17.

Up Next

Kent State has a midweek date with Marshall on Wednesday, Feb. 28 in Huntington before playing four games at the Duke Invitational on March 2-4.