Tipp prepares for postseason with big win over Butler
The game didn’t start out well for the Tippecanoe softball team, as they hosted Butler on Senior Night. Two errors and a baserunning blunder in the opening inning saw Tipp trail early in the game. But they kicked it into gear in the second and wrapped up the game with a six-run sixth inning, leading the Red Devils to a 14-3 rout over Butler to close out the MVL portion of their schedule.
Tipp finished 12-6 in the league and captured third overall in their division.
“Butler is a solid team with good athletes,” Tipp coach Charles Tackett said. “I knew we had to compete at a high level and continue to play solid. The hitting has been contagious through the lineup, which has become a strength for us.”
Butler scored in the opening inning before Tipp battled back in the second and put a six spot on the board. Lilly King and Jaina Drum opened the second inning each with a hit, then Lilly Strawser doubled to bring home a run and tie the game at 1-1.
After a walk, Audrey Davis reached on an error, bringing home two runs to give the Red Devils a 3-1 lead. They scored three more runs in the inning, which included a big double from Charlize McCormick, and she later scored on a wild pitch, giving Tipp a 6-1 lead after two.
An inning later, Drum scored on a wild pitch to make it 7-1 then Drum was at it again an inning later when she drove home another run with a single.
Butler scored two more unearned runs in the fifth to close their deficit to 8-3, but that was as close as Butler would get.
In the sixth, McCormick doubled in a run, and Strawser singled to bring home McCormick to push the Tipp lead to 10-3. Another run scored on an error, then Jocelyn Shelton ripped a fly ball to right to clear the bases, and Tipp walked it off with the run-rule victory.
For the Red Devils, Drum had a stellar game on the mound, pitching a complete game and allowing no earned runs. Her and Davis have proved to be quite valuable for the Red Devils.
“Drum and Davis have become a great one-two punch right now to the point where if one is maybe struggling, we put the other one in. Next week is tournament time, we just don’t have any room for error, we have to go with a hot hand on the mound,” Tackett said.
*Also last week, Tipp defeated Butler 16-3 as they scored eight runs in the fifth to end early.
Four Tipp batters each had three hits as the Red Devils collected 20 in the game. Davis, Shelton, McCormick, and Roo Snell combined for 12 hits with McCormick driving in three runs.
Davis pitched a complete game six hitter and earned the win for Tipp.
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