Softball picks up wins over Prairie View and Houston Baptist

Friday, March 4

Houston, Texas

12:00 p.m.

Brown University

1-5

Prairie View A&M

0-14

BROWN

PVAM

Softball picks up wins over Prairie View and Houston Baptist

3/4/2022 5:44:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

HOUSTON – Brown softball picked up its first two wins of the season, beating Prairie View and Houston Baptist on Friday (March 4). The Bears got the bats going against the Panthers before showcasing great defense against the Huskies.

"Jaiden Ditimus and Lex Guevara, both technically rookies this year, did a great job putting us in a position to win and the seniors, Grace Ladd and Lauren Innerst, came in and did a terrific job of finishing the games," said head coach Kate Refsnyder. "Our offense did a much better job stringing hits together and making things happen on the base paths today."

Leah Carey finished the day 4-for-6 with two RBI, a double, two walks and five stolen bases. Lauren Innerst also had four hits on the day.

GAME 1: BROWN 9, PRAIRIE VIEW 3
Brown collected season-highs in both runs and hits in its win against Prairie View to start play on the weekend. The Bears scored the most runs in a game since scoring 11 against UNCW Wilmington on Feb. 21, 2020 and their 15 hits were the most since collecting 15 against Lafayette on March 16, 2019.

Leah Carey led the way for the Bears going 3-for-4 from the leadoff position. Carey scored two runs and stole three bases. Lauren Innerst also collected three hits on the day and added an RBI. Katie O'Leary fnished the game 2-for-4 with an RBI triple. Both Layla Lynch and Elayna Tsiouplis each tallied two hits.

Jaiden Ditimus picked up the first win of her career, pitching five innings, allowing just three runs and striking out five batters. Ditimus also added two RBI at the plate.

Brown struck quickly as Carey singled to start the game and advanced to second during the next at bat. Tsiouplis followed with an RBI double to put Brown up 1-0.

In the second, Lynch walked with one out and stole second. Meghan Gormley moved Lynch to third on a fly out and Lynch scored on a wild pitch.

The Bears broke the game open with three runs in the third inning. Carey picked up her second hit of the game and proceeded to steal both second and third. Now standing 60 feet away with one out, Carey scored on a sac fly by Kat Clum. Laurel Moody singled and scored as O'Leary tripled on a full count. The lead hit 5-0 as O'Leary touched home on a single by Innerst.

Prairie View got a run back with a two-out tally in the bottom of the inning but Brown responded in the fifth. Back-to-back singles by O'Leary and Innerst were followed by a groundout that moved the runners to second and third with two outs. After Gormley walked, Ditimus helped her own cause with a single to center, scoring Innerst and O'Leary.

Up 7-3 in the sixth, Brown turned to Grace Ladd to close things out. Ladd allowed runners to get to second and third with two outs but got a ground ball to Gormley to end the inning.

Brown started the seventh with back-to-back doubles by Innerst and Lynch. Gormley added a sac fly and Brown's ninth run came off a pinch-hit single by Dara English.

Prairie View put two runners on in the seventh but Ladd shut down any rally getting a double play to end the game.

GAME 2: BROWN 3, HOUSTON BAPTIST 2
Brown jumped out to an early lead and managed to hang on with strong pitching and great defense for a 3-2 win over Houston Baptist to close out the day.

Leah Carey got things started for the Bears, drawing a walk to leadoff the game. Carey then stole second and moved to third on a flyout by Elayna Tsiouplis. A Kat Clum groundout put Brown up 1-0.

The Bears were silent for the next two innings but took advantage of a Houston Baptist error in the fourth. Singles by Alexis Guevara and Meghan Gormley were followed by Moe Kastens reaching on an error by the second baseman that extended the inning. Carey stepped to the plate and delivered a two-out two-run double down the left field line to put Brown up 3-0.

While Brown's offense was doing some damage, Guevara was shining in the circle. Guevara worked a perfect first two innings before facing trouble in the third. With the bases loaded after two-out walk, Guevara got a popup to Gormley at short to keep the Huskies off the board.

Guevara then retired the next five batters before back-to-back walks in the fifth but picked up another groundout to escape any trouble.

Houston Baptist finally got to Guevara in the sixth. Four-straight singles by HBU brought home two runs and chased Guevara from the game. Lauren Innerst entered and got out of the jam with back-to-back groundouts.

Brown left the bases loaded in the seventh but Innerst capped off the game with a 1-2-3 inning, highlighted by a diving catch in right field from Carey.

UP NEXT
Brown will take on these same two teams on Saturday (March 5) with a game against Houston Baptist at 12 p.m. before playing Prairie View at 2:30 p.m.