Clarksville, Ark.-Jessica Pianalto's game-winning sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh and Dana Marvin's shutout on the mound helped Ozarks sweep Greenville College on Tuesday afternoon in their home-opener.
Pianalto’s sacrifice fly lifted the Lady Eagles (7-3, 0-0) past Greenville College (0-2, 0-0) 4-3 in game one of the non-conference double-header. Jodie Clark led off the bottom of the seventh with a triple to left field. Clark’s triple set up Pianalto’s fly ball that proved to be the game-winner and gave the Lady Eagles their seventh win of the season. Ozarks appeared to have the game won in the sixth when Danielle Dirks hit a solo shot over the left field fence to give the Lady Eagles a 3-2 lead. It was Dirks’ third home run of the season. Greenville, however, would answer with a run of their own in the top of the seventh inning to tie the score. Kara Bartholomew scored Ozarks’ first run when Chelsea Joslin notched an RBI single in the bottom of the first. Bartholomew would score Ozarks’ second run and tied the game after Brooke Grice’s single. Bartholomew paced Ozarks’ offense with two hits. Chanceree Catlett (4-1) came in for starter Andrea Mitchell and picked up the win. Catlett struck out four in three innings of work. Marvin gained her first shutout of the season with a 5-0 victory over the Lady Panthers in the Lady Eagles’ second game of the day. Marvin surrendered only four hits while Ozarks’ offense torched Greenville for 14 hits on the day. Grice knocked in Pianalto in the first inning to give Ozarks a 1-0 lead. The Lady Eagles exploded for four runs in the second to put the game out of reach as Marvin controlled the Greenville hitters through seven innings of work. Marvin bettered her previous personal best by recording 12 strikeouts in the win. In the second, Marvin helped her own cause by doubling to right field and then stealing second. Devon Bottoms promptly singled her in to start the four-run inning. With two outs, Pianalto kept the rally going with an infield single to score Bottoms. Grice then reached base on a hard hit single to left field. Joslin followed by hammering a single to left field to score Pianalto. Dirks would receive the final RBI of the inning when she singled in Grice. Grice and Pianalto each went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Marvin evened her record to 1-1. Ozarks opens American Southwest Conference play when they travel to Richardson, Texas, to face UT-Dallas for a four-game series on March 17-18.
Topics: Athletics