Giving up free bases came back to bite the Lady Devils in their season opener, as a monster bottom of the fifth led to a 9-3 loss at the hands of Hancock County on Monday.
Owensboro got right to work offensively, taking advantage of an error to open up the game as freshman Addison Hill lined one to center to put the Lady Devils on the board. Following a strikeout, junior Lindsey Gibson drove one to right to put Owensboro up 2-0 heading into the second.
After hitting the first batter in the bottom of the second, senior Brooklyn Keller nearly escaped the inning damage free with two straight fly outs. However, a two-run homer followed and knotted things up at 2-2 going into the third.
The Lady Hornets were able to grab their first lead of the game in the bottom half of the third, as a walk was followed up by a two-out error on sophomore Sophie Moorman that made it a 3-2 ballgame.
The Lady Devils offensive struggles continued for the next two innings, being held scoreless for four straight innings going into the bottom of the fifth. Owensboro hadn’t recorded a hit since the second inning either and Hancock County took advantage.
A leadoff error and walk was followed up by a two-RBI double for the Lady Hornets, as another error led to a three-run homer for sophomore Lily Roberts to make it an 8-2 game. After the third error for the Lady Devils in the inning, a single led to a ground-out to make it 9-2 going into the sixth.
Owensboro was able to grab a run in the top of the seventh, but it was too little too late as they fell to Hancock County 9-3. The Lady Devils recorded one less than the Lady Hornets, but errors and 11-strikeout performance in the circle from Roberts were deciding factors.
Owensboro now has a few days to regroup, before they return home to host Hopkins County Central at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 17.
