Tampa, FL
The Reivers closed their week long trek to Florida with a pair of hard fought victories over the Hawks of Hillsborough CC.
The home squad staked themselves to a 3-run lead in Game 1. The Reivers trailed until the 5th when Natalie Gunn led off the inning with a walk, followed by an error on the Hawks.
Sydney Reamer grounded out to score Gunn and advance Lily Gregory to 2nd base.
The Sophomore from Boise scored on the Reivers next plate appearance as Tyla Lee tripled to rightfield to cut the deficit to 3-2.
Alyssa Maldonado Soto singled to bring Lee in to tie the game at 3 into the bottom of the 5th.
Hillsborough answered immediately with 3 runs in their half of the 5th to double up the Reivers, but the red hot Reiver bats weren't done.
In the top of the 6th, Logon Brown singled to lead off the inning and Gregory singled and reached 2nd on a throw to home with one away. Sydney Reamer, swinging a hot bat on the trip, then sent an 0-1 pitch to deep right center to tie the game at 6 each. Lee was then hit by a pitch and scored from second base on a single to right by Maldonado Soto to give the Reivers a 7-6 advantage.
In the bottom of the 6th Head Coach Ben Greer called to the bullpen, bringing crafty Sophomore Alison Arndt into the circle. The Sophomore from Cozad, Nebraska allowed a leadoff single before shutting the Hawks down in order with a strikeout and two groundouts. After a quick top half, Arndt closed the game out in the 7th with the same combination as the Reivers took the Game 1 victory 7-6.
Game 2 was never in question as the Reiver bats were hot from the start. Gregory led off the 1st with a hard single back up the middle, followed by a long fly out by Reamer. Lee walked to put runners at 1st and 2nd before Soto Maldonado singled to left. Gregory was thrown out at the plate after interference was not ruled on the play. With 2-outs Madysen Kim stroked a 2-out, 2-run single to score Lee and Maldonado Soto.
The offense went back to work in the 3rd with the long ball as Maldonado Soto hit her 5th of the season after Lee was hit by a pitch. Kim and Allison O'Driscoll followed by reaching base, but the Reivers couldn't add anymore to a 4-0 lead.
Julie Katz continued to deal, nursing groundball after groundball from Hawks' batters, the Freshman nursed 14 total groundball outs in her complete game effort.
Reamer, who hadn't hit a homerun in her collegiate career until this week's trip, blasted a 2-run homer in the 4th after Gregory had singled with 2-out. It was the 4th 4-bagger of the week for the Sophomore transfer from Nevada and it staked the Reivers to a 6-1 lead that they'd never relinquish.
Katz nailed down the win with excellent location and her teammates backed her with a relaxed, stellar defensive performance that kept the Hawks from mounting any serious threats in the outing.
Kim went 4-4 in the game and the Reivers tallied 10 hits in their wire-to-wire Game 2 win.
The season resumes with the home opener on Tuesday. First pitch for Game 1 versus Northeast comes at 2:00 PM from the Reiver Sports Complex in Council Bluffs.
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