CLERMONT, Fla. - Senior right fielder Annika Graves (Muskego, Wis.) went 3-for-3 with two runs scored and drove in a run as the Carroll University softball team defeated Worcester State University 8-5 in a nonconference game to finish its fifth day of the PFX Spring Games at the Hancock Rec Complex on Thursday night.
The resilient, come-from-behind performance snapped a string of frustrating back-to-back close losses for Carroll, which improved to 7-3 on its Florida spring break trip and 8-5 overall.
The Pioneers trailed 5-3 but responded with five runs on four hits in what became a momentum-shifting bottom of the sixth inning.
Graves ignited the key rally with an RBI single to center field, freshman pinch runner Maria Mundt (Milwaukee, Wis.) scored as the result of a bases-loaded walk, freshman left fielder Katelyn Schneider (Sussex, Wis.) delivered a game-winning two-run single to left field and starting third baseman Lexy Kemnitzer (McFarland, Wis.) added a runs-scoring sacrifice fly.
Freshman center fielder Sierra Grubor (Milwaukee, Wis.) went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and drove in a run for Carroll, which generated nine hits and didn't commit an error. Schneider finished with a team-high three RBIs.
Kemnitzer - a right-hander - was the winning pitcher, allowing two runs on five hits with four strikeouts and one walk through the final 4 1/3 innings.
Worcester State dropped to 0-8 overall.