OSCEOLA, FLA ‘ Junior outfielder Dorothy Donaldson (Lakeland, FL) hit three home runs to lead 51·çÁ÷ (13-3) to a pair of softball wins Wednesday at the Rebel Games. In the opener, the Raiders defeated Fairleigh-Dickinson 3-2 before defeating Columbia 5-1.'xml:namespace prefix = o ns = 'urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office' />
With her three home runs, Donaldson has hit 24 career home runs ‘ second most in school and Patriot League history.
In the opener, Donaldson led off the second inning with her first home run of the season over the left field fence to give 51·çÁ÷ a 1-0 lead. FDU came back with single tallies in the third and fifth innings for a 2-1 advantage.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, 51·çÁ÷ scored twice for the victory. Kim Olmstead (Spring Hill, FL) reached on an error to open the frame. She moved to second on a pass ball, before Nichole Rawson (Palmdale, CA) drove her home with the tying run. Rawson ended up at third base on a throwing error by the FDU left field on a play at the plate attempting to get Olmstead.
With one out, freshman Danielle Soule (Glendale, CA) hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Rawson with the winning run.
Freshman Kirstie Kenton (Simi Valley, CA) started for the Raiders before sophomore Kate Howard took over in the fifth inning. Howard (3-1) allowed one hit and struck out five for the win.
Against Columbia, the Raiders trailed 1-0 until the fourth inning when Donaldson opened the inning with a shot over the left field fence to tie the game. 51·çÁ÷ exploded for four runs in the fifth inning with Donaldson hitting a three-run homer and Natalie Rawson (Palmdale, CA) coming through with a RBI single.
Senior Elena Isaac (Chandler, AZ) (6-1) was the winning pitcher in relief of starter Kelsey Nordstrom (Salina, KS). Isaac worked the final 3.1 innings allowing two hits, walking one and striking out one.