CLERMONT, Fla. – Kayla Hillenbrand's monster afternoon at the plate powered the No. 14 TNCJ softball team to a mercy-rule victory over St. Norbert on the final day of the Lions' spring break stay in Florida.
Hillenbrand went 4-for-4 with five RBIs and
Julia Kinnally smacked a home run of her own in an 11-2, six-inning victory in the Lions' opener. Hope edged TCNJ, 6-4, in 8 innings in the nightcap.
TCNJ 11, St. Norbert 2
After the teams traded single runs in the first, the Lions (6-3) went ahead for good on McKayla Yard's sacrifice fly and an accompanying error that allowed Hillenbrand to score an additional run.
Kinnally followed a leadoff walk by
Julia Mayernik with a two-run shot to make it 5-1, and Hillenbrand's RBI single extended the lead to five.
Back-to-back doubles by Kinnally and
Lauren Conroy countered a St. Norbert run in the bottom of the third, and Hillenbrand delivered a two-run single to cap a second consecutive three-run frame.
The Lions stretched the margin to mercy-rule territory in the sixth, when Hillenbrand hammered a two-run homer to score
Jaclyn Carifi and polish off her four-hit outburst.
Carifi was the beneficiary of Hillenbrand's power surge, scoring four runs on two hits and a pair of walks. Kinally drove in two runs and scored two others for the Lions, who got a hit from every starter in the lineup.
Yard picked up her first career victory in the circle, entering in the third inning and compiling four sparkling innings of scoreless work. She allowed just one hit with a pair of walks.
Hope 6, TCNJ 4 (8)
Yard opened the scoring with an RBI single in the bottom of the second, and Conroy added one of her own in the third to push the Lions out to a 2-0 advantage.
Hope (3-1) responded with two runs in the fourth, but
Marina Costello's RBI single in the bottom half put TCNJ back on top, 3-2.
Looking to close out a win in the seventh, an error allowed Hope to tie it on an unearned run, and the contest went to an extra inning.
Hope pushed across the free runner at second to take a 4-3 lead and added some separation on a two-run homer by Kaelin Callo.
Yard's single put runners on first and third with no outs in the bottom of the eighth, but a double play short-circuited any hopes of a rally.
Carifi finished 3-for-4 to cap a 5-for-6 day, while Costello (2-for-3, run, RBI), Yard (2-for-4, RBI) and
Kaci Neveling (2-for-5) all had multiple hits.
The Lions finished their Florida trip with a record of 5-3. They return home to take on Cabrini next Friday before hosting Manhattanville on Saturday.
