Blossoms Drop Both Games on day one of Super 8 Tournament
February 29, 2008

MONTICELLO – The University of Arkansas at Monticello softball team’s three-game winning streak was snapped with two losses on the first day of the 2008 Super 8 Softball Tournament.

The first loss came from the No. 14 Valdosta State Lady Blazers with a final score of 9-0. The Blossoms only trailed 4-0 going into the seventh inning, but a grand-slam homerun from the bat of VSU’s Alex Acosta put the Lady Blazers up by their final score advantage.

The Blossoms were led by senior Jenny Dunn (Adelaide, Australia), who went 2-for-3 at the plate. The other Blossoms to get hits were senior Kate Brady (Longview, Texas) and junior Amy Mardis (Burnet, Texas), who both went 1-for-3.

Junior Becca Sustaire (Hallsville, Texas) recorded the loss for the Blossoms after pitching six innings, allowing four runs off five hits to move to 2-6 overall this season.

Missouri University of Science and Technology handed the Blossoms their second loss of the day, with a final score of 7-4.

UAM struck early with two runs in the bottom of the first inning. After leadoff batter Meredith Heckel (Hot Springs, Ark.) was hit by a pitch, junior Lindsey Randall (Keithville, La.) singled up the middle, which was followed by a two-RBI double from sophomore Becca Tipton (Dermott, Ark.).

UAM struck again in the second inning with a leadoff homerun off the bat of sophomore Kayla Temple (West Monroe, La.), marking her first homerun of the season.

Missouri S&T took the lead in the top of the third with three runs off back-to-back run producing at bats.

Tipton led the Blossoms, going 2-for-4 at the plate with three RBI, while five other Blossoms combined for the rest of the UAM hits in the game.

Brady was given the loss after pitching the first 4.1 innings, allowing five runs off five hits to move her to 2-3 on the season.

The Blossoms, now 4-12 overall this season, play tomorrow at 10 a.m. against Alabama-Huntsville in day two of the Super 8 Tournament. That game will be followed by a game against North Alabama, scheduled to start at 12 p.m.