Belmont softball won three of its five games in the Littlewood Classic in Arizona this weekend.
The Bruins’ first game was against Utah Valley University on Friday morning.
Belmont opened the game with five runs in the top of the first inning but gave up three in the bottom. However, Belmont did not allow another run to score.
The Bruins tacked on two more runs in the second inning and exploded for six more in the fourth. The game was called after five innings, resulting in a 13-3 win for Belmont to open the tournament.
Catcher Grace Gressly and third baseman Rylee Spindler had three RBIs each.
Maya Johnson, the Bruins’ preseason First Team All-Conference pitcher, struggled in the team’s second game of the day against Grand Canyon University.
Johnson allowed her first run of the season in the first inning on a passed ball and allowed four more in the fourth inning. She finished the game with 3.1 innings pitched, six hits allowed and five runs allowed.
Belmont catcher Brenna Blume hit the team’s first home run of the season in the seventh inning, but it did little to change the outcome as the Bruins fell 6-1 to the Lopes.
The second day of play for the Bruins opened with an offensive shootout against Weber State.
Belmont jumped out to a 4-0 lead after two innings but then surrendered four runs in the top of the third to tie the game.
The Bruins then scored eight runs in the bottom of the third, started by Blume’s second home run of the season and were able to stifle the Wildcats’ comeback attempt to win 12-8.
Belmont’s second game of the night was an extra-innings thriller against Arizona State.
Maya Johnson bounced back from her previous outing, pitching all eight innings, striking out 12 batters and only allowing one run on two hits in the Bruins’ 5-1 win.
Johnson gave up a homer to Tiare Ho-Ching in the fourth inning, but an Emily Cockrill RBI single in the sixth inning tied the game 1-1.
Despite scoring five runs, the Bruins scored only one earned run. The remaining four runs were scored on Sun Devil errors in the eighth inning.
Johnson shut the door on the Sun Devils in the bottom of the eighth with two strikeouts.
Her ERA is 1.73 and she struck out 38 batters across 24.1 innings.
The Bruins’ final game of the tournament was against No. 21 ranked Oregon.
Despite good pitching keeping the Ducks’ explosive offense in check, the Bruins’ own offense was stifled in the 4-1 loss.
Oregon’s starting pitcher Lyndsey Grein struck out 12 of the 17 Belmont batters she faced and surrendered just one hit, one walk and one unearned run.
The Bruins are now 5-5 following two tournaments to open the season. Belmont will play one more five-game tournament, the Green and Gold Classic in Birmingham, Alabama, next weekend.
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This story was written by Nick Rampe.
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