MELBOURNE, Fla. – Roosevelt dropped two tough games Friday at the USSSA Space Coast Games in Florida, falling in two distinct ways.
The Lakers (6-12) lost a heartbreaking 2-1 contest to Southern New Hampshire on a walk-off home run, and never really recovered. They fell into an early hole and could not dig their way out against Concordia St. Paul, losing 9-1 in six innings.
SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE 2, ROOSEVELT 1
It was a game of missed opportunities for the Lakers after they left five runners on base with four of them in scoring position. Ella Dvoracek led off the game with a perfectly-placed bunt in front of home plate to reach on a single. She used her speed to steal second then took third on a groundout, but was left 60 feet away.
Rebecca Urbaniak led off the second inning with a home run to put Roosevelt in the lead and Kennedi Robien followed with a double. She also made it to third on a groundout before being stranded on third base. In the fifth inning, Dvoracek again hit an infield single and stole second base, putting her in position to advance on Kendall Pearson's single. Pearson moved up to second on the throw home to prevent Dvoracek from scoring, but both runners were left on the base paths.
Kailey Hancock allowed nine hits in the complete-game effort, but did not walk anyone and utilized the defense behind her. She kept the Penmen to just one run after a leadoff double in the second inning and faced a similar situation in the third. However, a pitch that squeaked away from Libby Kreykes didn't get too far away and the catcher was able to collect it and tag out the runner trying to score.
Hancock escaped the fourth with a pair of fly balls after consecutive singles and then Pearson made the play of the day from the outfield. The Penmen looked to take the lead on a single into centerfield, but the sophomore used her cannon of an arm to throw out the runner trying to score from second.
CONCORDIA ST. PAUL 9, ROOSEVELT 1
Within an hour of the heartbreak against SNHU, Roosevelt was back on the field and immediately found itself in trouble. The Lakers allowed two runs in the first inning on bases loaded walks before Catie Luzzi shut the door with consecutive outs to leave the bases full.
Urbaniak reached on an error to kick off the second inning and came around to score on Kreykes' single up the middle. Pearson again threw out a runner trying to score on a single to her in centerfield, but the Golden Bears still added one in the inning to make it a 3-1 game.
The Lakers committed three errors in the third inning and Concordia St. Paul capitalized for five runs. The Golden Bears nearly walked off the game in the fifth when they loaded the bases with no one out, but Urbaniak recorded a strikeout and induced a 1-2-3 double play to extend the game.
UP NEXT: The Lakers close out their stay in Florida with games against Cedarville and Bemidji State on Saturday.
