OXFORD, AL – 10th-seeded Walters State led by two runs heading to the bottom of the seventh on Monday evening in their NJCAA DI World Series opener against seventh-seeded Galveston, but the Whitecaps scored three runs to take a 3-2 win.
With the loss, Walters State fell to 43-9 on the season. The Lady Senators will be back in action on Wednesday at 11 a.m. in an elimination game.
Tori Coffman (19-4) got the start in the circle and pitched the entire game. Coffman struck out 12 and allowed three runs on six hits. Coffman struck out the side in the first and fourth innings.
At the plate, the Lady Senators had five hits. Kailey Dixon led the way with an RBI triple, while Imari Golden had an RBI single. Coffman, Kendal Mason and Jules Johnson had the other three hits.
Coffman proved up to the task early for Walters State, leaving two on in the first inning. Coffman got a 1-2-3 second inning, before stranding runners on the corners in the third.
Coffman continued to do her thing in the fourth, giving up a leadoff single before striking out the next three batters. Coffman got two more strikeouts in the fifth, and her offense arrived in the top of the sixth. Mason led things off with a single right up the middle. That brought up Dixon, and she scored Mason with an RBI triple off the fence in center to make it 1-0.
The score remained 1-0 through the bottom of the sixth, as Coffman got the Whitecaps 1-2-3. The Lady Senators gave her insurance in the top of the seventh, as Johnson led off with a single, was bunted over to second by Sarah Evers and scored on an RBI single by Golden that made it 2-0.
However, Galveston loaded the base with one out in the seventh. Coffman got one final strikeout but a base hit up the middle scored two to tie the game and a bloop into left field dropped and scored the winning run.
Rob Harvey
Walters State Community College
Sports Information Director
Cell: (423) 779-8880
Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu
Website: www.ws.edu/athletics