Belmont softball went 4-1 at the Green and Gold Classic this weekend; the last of three five-game tournaments to start its season.
The Bruins won their first 4 games of the tournament, starting with an 8-4 win against the University of Southern Indiana.
Rayna Cruickshanks improved her season record to 3-1 on the mound, and third baseman Rylee Spindler was the standout hitter going 3-3, drawing a walk and driving in two runs.
Right fielder Emma Barnes also drove in a pair of runs. She went 2-2 and drew a walk.
The offense didn’t come as easily in game two against Samford, but another great outing from Maya Johnson held the Bulldogs to just one run in a 3-1 Belmont win.
She pitched all seven innings allowing just one run on four hits.
Freshman outfielder Maddy Balsiger hit her first career home run in the fourth inning.
The next game was against Purdue on Saturday. Belmont won 2-0 in eight innings.
Johnson started this game as well, pitching all eight innings without allowing a run and only giving up three hits and one walk while striking out twelve Boilermakers.
The 0-0 tie didn’t break until Nicole Hughes hit an RBI single in the top of the eighth. The next batter, Emily Cockrill, tacked on one more run on a sacrifice fly which brought the game to its final score.
Belmont finished the weekend with two games against the host of the tournament, the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
The Bruins found themselves in a hole early in the first game when UAB’s Lindsey Smith hit a three-run home run in the first inning.
It took until the fourth inning for the Bruins to retaliate, but they did so with a seven-run explosion. The bulk of the scoring came during an eight-batter stretch without recording an out.
UAB scored two in the bottom of the fourth, but Belmont added three more in the next inning, leading 10-5 after 5.
The Bruins were able to stave off a late Blazers comeback to win 11-8 and improve to 4-0 in the tournament.
Belmont could not maintain perfection however, as they failed to score in a 6-0 loss to UAB in the final game of the tournament.
UAB scored one in the first, five in the third and added one more in the sixth.
Belmont’s offense mustered just two hits and three walks in the shutout. No Belmont baserunners advanced to second base until the sixth inning.
The Bruins are now 9-6 following three tournaments to start their season.
Belmont plays their first non-tournament game against Tennessee State at home on Wednesday.
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This article was written by Nick Rampe.
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