ST. LEO, Fla. – The Palm Beach Atlantic softball team began its series on the road at No. 17 Saint Leo on Friday night.
The Sailfish were gifted with another strong performance in the circle by
Abbey Busby, but it was their bats that powered PBA (12-7, 5-2 SSC) to a 6-2 win. The 'Fish outhit the Lions 8-6 in the game. PBA also took advantage of three Saint Leo (11-6, 1-3 SSC) errors.
The Lions got on the board the bottom of the second inning. A single, followed by two PBA errors allowed the hosts to take a 1-0 lead. Saint Leo tacked on one more run in the inning to take a 2-0 lead early in the ballgame.
After stranding several runners on base early in the contest, the Sailfish finally pushed some runs across in the top of the fourth inning. A monster home run to left field by
Janie McCloskey, drove in
Katherine Budnovich to tie the game at two.
Saint Leo threatened to retake in the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. A two-out double put runners on second and third, but Busby got a strikeout to get out of the frame.
The Sailfish took their first lead of the game in the sixth inning. After two quick outs, walks by McCloskey and
Hannah Carlton, kickstarted a two-out rally.
Meredith Milam, who made her season debut on Friday, drove in McCloskey with her first hit of the season that was then mishandled by the centerfielder which allowed Carlton to score. Milam wasn't on base for long as freshman
Faith Allen launched her second home run of the season to make it 6-2 PBA.
The six runs were plenty of run support for Busby. She had little trouble setting down the Lions in the sixth and seventh innings to seal the win for the 'Fish. The junior pitcher notched her eighth win of the season. She finished with just six hits allowed and both runs scored were unearned. She tallied eight strikeouts in the game.
Alexis Guerra, Budnovich and McCloskey led PBA with two hits each. McCloskey and Allen tallied a team-high two RBI's each.
The Sailfish look to clinch the series tomorrow when they face the Lions in a doubleheader. The first pitch of game one will take place at 1 p.m.