DOVER, Del. - Rain wrecked havoc on Delaware State University's annual Sean Savage Epilepsy Awareness Tournament, but the Hornets were able to get one game on record as freshman Bria Green (Wheatley Heights, N.Y.) went 3-for-3 with her first career home run to lead DSU over Bucknell, 8-3, in a rain-shortened game of six innings at the Hornets Nest.
The game, originally scheduled for 10:30 a.m., eventually got underway around 2 p.m. after the completion of Bucknell vs. Cornell and a two-plus hour rain delay.
Senior Rachel Carroll (Oxnard, Calif.) started Del State on the right foot in the bottom of the second inning as she led off with a double to right field. The shortstop was safe at home on a fielder's choice, as fellow senior Leslie Pleasanton (Smyrna, Del.) was safe at first, to give the Hornets a 1-0 lead.
With two outs and the bases loaded, senior Tawny Reeger (Simi Valley, Calif.) cleared the bases and gave the Hornets a 4-0 advantage with a double to left field before the end of the second.
In the top of the third, the Bison scored a run of their own to come within 4-1, but left three base runners stranded in the inning.
With rain looming in the distance, Bucknell put the pressure on DSU, scoring two runs on two hits and an error in the top of the fifth inning.
The Hornets responded in the bottom of the frame as senior Casey Beighley (Los Angeles, Calif.) walked to lead off for DSU before Green sent a shot over the centerfield wall for her first career home run and a 6-3 lead. Del State tacked on another run as freshman Kelsey Doherty (Harbeson, Del.) singled and made her way around the bases on an error by first baseman Courtney Conover.
DSU allowed a leadoff hit by Mary Horton before three straight outs.
With the rain starting back up, sophomore Stephanie Martello (Oxnard, Calif.) tripled down the right field line and then scored on a single up the middle from Beighley to give the Hornets an 8-3 lead. Green then walked to load the bases when the home plate umpire called a rain delay and officials agreed upon finalizing the game.
Martello and Beighley each went 2-for-3 with a walk on the afternoon for the Hornets. Martello scored two runs while Beighley recorded one run and one RBI.
Sophomore Stephanie Sarris (Rohnert Park, Calif.) picked up her sixth win of the year for Delaware State (10-11-1), going 2.0 innings and giving up three hits, two runs (both unearned) and walking two.
Beighley earned her first save of the season, allowing no runs, one hit, one walk while striking out one.
Sophomore Rachel Meagley (Seattle, Wash.) picked up her second straight win on the year for Delaware State (10-11-1), giving up four hits and one run (earned) and one walk in 2.1 innings pitched.
Bridget Gates took the loss for the Bison (5-12), going 4.0 innings and giving up six hits, four runs (all earned), two walks and four strikeouts. Hornton led the Bison offensively, going 3-for-4, with a double and stolen base.
Earlier in the day, Cornell defeated Bucknell, 9-8, on a two-out, two-run walk-off home run in the first game of the Sean Savage Epilepsy Awareness Tournament.
The Hornets open Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play next weekend, hosting Hampton University for a doubleheader on Saturday, March 31 and a single game on Sunday, April 1.
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