MELBOURNE, FL – The Belles finished their opening tournament taking place this weekend with a final record of 4-1. The Florida Tech Invitational pitted the Belles against three highly competitive teams native to the area: Palm Beach Atlantic, Florida Tech, and Barry University.
Game 1 – Palm Beach Atlantic
Angelo State first faced the Sailfish of Palm Beach Atlantic, who last season finished 38-6 (26-4 in conference play). The Belles would welcome the challenge eagerly, however, and would score in the top of the first inning to get ahead early. The Belles would then place nine more runs on the board before the Sailfish would show signs of life in the bottom of the fifth and score three of their own to avoid the run rule. Neither team would score in the final two innings of the game, resulting in a big 10-3 win for the Belles.
Meagan Hill would pick up her first win of the season – giving up only three hits in three innings of work while striking out three.
Victoria Vasquez would then come into the game to relieve Hill, and would put in one and a third innings of work, strike out three, and give up three runs.
Makayla Corbin Would ultimately finish the game for the Belles, going two and two third innings of work without giving up a single hit.
Karina Rocha picked up the 2019 season in a very good way, crushing her first homerun of the year. She would ultimately end up with three RBIs in the game.
Taylor Fogle would scratch across two more runs of her own for the Belles, hitting 1-3 on the night.
Ashlyn Lerma and Hatty Shope would also drive in one run a piece for the Belles.
When asked about the game, Head Coach Travis Scott had good things to say about his team, "Meagan Hill was really sharp which is huge for us, and we played really good defense behind her, and it's hard to score on us when we aren't making mistakes," He went on to say that, "Overall, we looked really good."
Scott also made sure to acknowledge Rocha's deep fly, laughing and saying, "Karina's shot was an absolute bomb -it was up in the trees," and then stated that, "the home run was very important to us as it gave us some breathing room early into the game."
Game 2 – Florida Tech
The Belles would face Florida Tech in their first game of the second day of play. Angelo State would battle into extra innings in this matchup before finally coming out on top 4-3 in the eighth inning. The thriller was hard fought throughout the entirety of regulation play, with the Belles trailing 2-3 going into the top of the seventh inning.
It would be a clutch Avery Zeigler bunt single that would plate Hatty Shope to tie the game up at three a piece in the top of the seventh. Meagan Hill would then pitch her last inning, not allowing the Panthers to score another run and sending the game into inning number eight.
The International Tie Breaker rule that places a runner at second base would then be shortly followed by the Belles plating the final run of the game.
Game 3 – Barry
Barry University represented the next Belles' next contender of the day. They would also represent Angelo State's third win of the tournament as the game would end 7-3 in ASU's favor.
The Belles would get ahead early in the third inning by putting up two in the bottom of the third. They would then not take their foot off of the pedal, scoring another in the fourth, two more in the fifth, and their final two runs in the sixth.
Barry would be held scoreless until the top of the sixth inning. The Buccaneers would try and spark a comeback by putting three runs on the board, but that would be all they could manage as they would then be held scoreless in the top of the seventh.
Courtney Barnhill had a stellar game at the plate – batting 2-4 with four RBIs on two homeruns. Her first deep ball came in the third inning that brought Megan Gordon around the bases as well. Barnhill's second home run was hit to dead center and drove in Avery Zeigler.
Jade Strother and Taylor Fogle both ended up going 1-3 at the plate in the game. Strother was good for driving in a run of her own, and Fogle would cross the plate as a runner for the Belles as well.
Megan Gordon was also once again solid for the Belles, going 2-3 with an RBI and a run scored.
In the circle for the Belles and earning her first win of the season was Makayla Corbin. Corbin would power through 5.2 innings of work and only give up six hits while striking out two.
Meagan Hill earned her first save of the season to compliment her two wins by pitching 1.1 innings and striking out two of the four batters she faced.
Game 4 – Florida Tech
With their fourth game played would come their fourth game won, as the Belles once again took down Florida Tech. Not only that, but the Belles would also win 4-3 again, and Meagan Hill would earn her third win. Call it déjà vu for the fans in attendance.
The lead would change hands four times throughout the game, transferring first from the Panthers to the Belles, then back to the Panthers, and then finally finding home in the Belles favor.
Makayla Corbin would start in the circle for ASU, and would go five innings while only giving up six hits and giving up three runs.
Meagan Hill would come in for two innings of relief and earn the win, striking out two and giving up just one hit in two innings of work.
Taylor Fogle and Avery Zeigler would be responsible for driving runs in for the Belles. Both split the RBI stat by driving in two.
Ashlyn Lerma's contribution to the win would be impossible to overlook, as the Highland Village Native was 2-3 at the plate and scored once as well.
Courtney Barnhill went 1-3 with two walks and scored a run.
Jade Strother and Avery Zeigler would also cross the plate to score for the Belles.
Game 5 – Barry University
The Belles would not experience their first loss until the final game of the tournament, dropping their fifth game 2-4 to the Barry Buccaneers.
Victoria Vasquez was solid on the mound for the Belles, but would ultimately earn her first loss of the season. Vasquez pitched for six innings of work and only gave up three hits, striking out three and walking four.
The Belles outhit the Buccaneers 6-3, but stranded 13 runners on base.
Avery Zeigler drove in both of the Belles' runs in the fifth inning when she doubled down the left field line.
Looking Forward
Angelo State returns home for their next game on Friday, February 8th at 1:45 p.m. when they face the Grizzlies of Adams State in the annual George and Ola McCorkle Challenge.
