CLERMONT, Fla.—University of Charleston Softball goes 5-1 in The Spring Games tournament in Clermont, Florida to improve to 11-1 on the season. 
 
Following the wins against University of Mary and University of Findlay on day one, UC went 1-1 on day two of the tournament. They started it off by mercy ruling Upper Iowa University (6-14) 10-1 but ended the day with a 11-3 loss to Winona State University (13-2). They bounced back on the final day though, defeating Ashland University (4-7) 2-1 and mercy ruling Clarion University (1-7) 9-1. So far, five of Charleston's 11 wins are mercy rule victories. 
 
Highlights:
Offensively, Graduate Student Allysa Lake and Senior Hannah Rose led the Golden Eagles. Lake put up a .471 (8-17) batting average on the week with two home runs, three doubles, a triple, nine RBIs, three runs scored, two walks and a hit by pitch. Like Lake, Rose also produced at the plate with a .563 batting average on the week with a triple, two doubles, three RBIs, seven runs scored, three stolen bases and a hit by pitch. Other top producers for Charleston in The Spring Games were Junior Isabella Andujar and Sophomore Bianca Polistina who each had a double and a home run to their names.
 
Starting pitchers Brianna McCown (7-1), Chloe Elliott (1-0) and Layla Jelenic (1-0) all picked up wins in days two and three in The Spring Games. Against Upper Iowa, Elliott notched her first win of the season with five strikeouts and only three hits, one walk and one run allowed in five innings pitched. Jelenic got her first collegiate win against Clarion where she punched out nine Golden Eagles and only allowed one hit in five innings pitched. In two games, batters are only hitting .059 off the freshman, as she has only given up two hits in 11 innings pitched. Veteran McCown got her second win of the tournament against Ashland with nine strikeouts and five hits allowed in a full game of work.
 
The Basics:
Location: Clermont, Fla.
Score: vs. Upper Iowa: 10-1 (W); vs. Winona State: 11-3 (L); vs. Ashland: 2-1 (W)
 
How it Happened:
vs. Upper Iowa:
Charleston started day two of The Spring Games off with a win over Upper Iowa University. The Peacocks led the game off with a single, but starting pitcher Chloe Elliott struck out two and induced a pop up to the shortstop to put an end to the inning. With two outs in the bottom of the first, Allysa Lake got the scoring started for the game on a triple. The senior later scored on a passed ball to make the score 1-0.
 
Elliott sent Iowa down in order in the top of the second. The Golden Eagles carried that momentum into their half of the inning, scoring another run after a single by Hannah Rose drove in Morgan Hoppe who previously reached on a double. UIU got out of the jam with a groundout to a the pitcher.
 
After leading off the inning with a walk, Elliott struck out a batter and forced two groundouts to end the Peacock's half of the third inning. Charleston continued applying pressure offensively with Lake leading the inning off with a single. Pinch runner Lindsey Reavis then swiped second, stole third and scored on a throwing error by the catcher. Hoppe picked up an RBI and closed out the scoring for the inning on an error by the second baseman to make the score 4-0.
 
Elliott had another 1-2-3 inning in the fourth, and the Golden Eagles broke it open with their bats. Rose singled to get the offense going, while Isabella Andujar reached and moved Rose over to third on a fielder's choice. Lake knocked in two runs on a double and advanced to third on a throw to home plate. She scored after Hannah Meyer reached on another error by the Peacocks. Meyer also tallied another run for UC, scoring on another double by Hoppe after advancing to third on a passed ball and a groundout. Charleston collected one more run in the fourth on a groundout, making the score 10-0.
 
The Peacocks managed to crack the Golden Eagles defense in the top of the fifth inning. With two outs, they plated a run on two hits to trim the score down to 10-1. Elliott did not allow another run though, as she ended the inning on a pop fly to the shortstop to give Charleston the 10-1 mercy rule win over Upper Iowa University.
 
Hoppe and Lake led the offense, as Hoppe went 2-3 with two doubles, three RBIs and a run scored, while Lake went 3-3 with a double, a triple two RBIs and two runs scored. 
 
vs. Winona State:
The Golden Eagles dropped their first game of the season to Winona State University, 11-3. Despite scoring first on a walk with bases loaded, the Warriors put up three in the first inning and three in the second inning on a pair of singles and a double to make it 6-1, Winona. 
 
The Golden Eagles notched another run on a single by Hoppe before the Warriors put an end to the inning. Starting pitcher McCown kept Winona scoreless in the fourth, while her teammates went on to cut the lead in half in the top of the fourth. With runners on first and third, Reavis stole second and Rose scored on the throw. 
 
Once again, the Warriors halted the Golden Eagles' scoring and went on to plate four more runs on a double, a single and a triple to put themselves one run away from mercy ruling Charleston. Despite getting out of the inning, a single by Winona walked it off, giving them the 11-3 win. 
 
vs. Ashland:
The scoring for the game versus Ashland all came in the first and second inning with Ashland plating a run in the top of the first and Charleston plating two in the bottom of the second. ASU's first base runner reached on an error, stole second and scored on a double to put them ahead 1-0. Starting pitcher Brianna McCown stopped the bleeding though, striking out an Eagle to end the inning. 
 
UC plated their first and only two runs in the bottom of the second inning. Raegan West sparked the offense with a leadoff walk and later scored on a single by Lindsey Phares. Kayla Moran, who also reached on a single, also scored on the play after Phares acted as a distraction, rounding first and drawing a throw to allow for enough time for Moran to score. With two outs, the inning and scoring for the game concluded on a groundout to second base.
 
West and Phares both went 2-3 with West scoring a run and Phares collecting an RBI. Lake also smacked a double in the victory. 
 
vs. Clarion:
The Golden Eagles put up runs in the first, second, fourth and fifth inning to secure the 9-1 dub over Clarion. With Charleston set as the visiting team, Rose led off the game by reaching second on hard hit ball to left field that resulted in an error. A groundout moved Rose over and a walk by Lake put runners on first in third with one away. Pinch runner Reavis swiped second to put runners in scoring position for Meyer. From there, Meyer grounded out to first, scoring Rose and advancing Reavis to third. Polistina then went on to line one over the right field fence to make the score 3-0, Charleston. Clarion's first and only hit and run of the game came in the bottom of the first on a single and a passed ball. Jelenic quickly halted their brief two-out rally, though inducing a pop fly to the shortstop to end the inning.
 
UC scored two more runs in the second inning. Lake pushed across the first run of the inning on a single, which scored Kyra Gooler who led the inning off with a single of her own. Meyer then knocked in the second run on a single through the five-six hole. Jelenic struck out the side to put away the second inning of the game.
 
The game remained scoreless until the Golden Eagles tallied three more runs in the fourth and a run in the fifth. A double by Polistina, a single by Rubal and a double by Phares made the score 8-1 in the fourth. A walk by Rose and a double by Andujar is how the last run of the game crossed the plate. 
 
Polistina went 2-3 with a home run, a double, three RBIs and two runs scored in the victory. Meyer also went 2-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored. 
 
Up Next:
Charleston will face Millersville University (5-5) on Wednesday, March 6 at home. First pitch is set for 4pm.