Fairfield walks off with game two victory

Gretchen Granneman?s game-winning double in the bottom of the eighth inning spelled relief for the Fairfield softball team Monday night.

A much improved Mount Pleasant team ? which was swept by the Trojans in the only previous meeting this year ? took a 2-0 win in game one, which preceded Fairfield?s 3-2 victory in the nightcap.

?Every night in this conference is different. There?s different matchups, different teams showing up to play and Mount Pleasant has been beating some teams lately,? said Fairfield head coach Bob Bradfield. ?They are a capable team and we couldn?t get the bats going in that first game ? they strung together four hits and that was the difference.?

Emily Prellwitz allowed just three hits ? two of them to Trojan shortstop Meredith Flattery ? in the Panthers? game one win while game two starter Sammi Goble helped out her teammate in Mount Pleasant?s run-scoring sixth inning. With two outs already down, Goble put herself on base with a single. Sidney Burden, Stephanie Myers and Mandi White followed suit and came through to plate Goble and Myers.

The four hits represented over half of the seven that starter Mackenzie Laux allowed the entire game. Once again receiving sparse run support, Laux took the loss while striking out eight batters.

Mount Pleasant jumped out to another lead in game two as Brooklyn Schrader?s RBI double in the second inning scored Prellwitz. It took the Trojans three innings to have a base runner before finally breaking through for a two-run fourth. Rachel Robinson and Granneman recorded back-to-back hits to get the Trojan rally started. Brittany Craff and Allison Delker brought them home to put Fairfield on top 2-1.

Rebekah Kimzey answered back right away in the top of the fifth coming around to tie the score at two as Robinson and Goble battled the final two innings to send the game into extras ? not without a severe Mount Pleasant threat. The Panthers loaded the bases in the seventh, but Laux gave Robinson a huge boost as she entered for an inning ending strikeout.

Six straight outs brought Fairfield to the plate in the bottom of the eighth where Katie Anderson led off with a double. Anderson waited patiently at second for Granneman?s rip that put the game away.

?It was a good hit by Gretchen and something our team has been missing this year ? someone to come through with a big hit. Last night, it made the difference between winning and possibly losing.? Bradfield said. ?It was a good game ? we had to play some defense and got some runners on base. If you?re going to split, it?s nice to win that second game and go home with the winning feeling.?

Robinson struck out four in 6 2/3 innings for Fairfield before Laux struck out two in the final 1 1/3 innings.

With the split, Fairfield keeps the overall record at .500 with a mark of 17-17 heading into the stretch run of the season. Bradfield hopes for some kind of momentum to get going as they head to Class 2A fifth-rated Albia tonight. The doubleheader is part of six games in three nights for the Trojans ? including Monday ? as they prepare for the regional tournament, which starts on Saturday against Fort Madison.