RICHMOND, Ky. – The Eastern Kentucky University softball team opens the 2024 Colonel Classic with wins over Purdue Fort Wayne and Canisius on Saturday at Gertrude Hood Field.
The Colonels defeated PFW in shutout fashion by a score of 5-0 in game one behind a 2-strikeout complete game from freshman two-way player
Maddi Rutan (6-2).
Rutan leads the club with 48.0 innings, 37 strikeouts, and a 1.46 earned run average.
EKU (12-4) had home runs in game one from
Jeanay Riley and
Lilly Davis, each bringing in two runs. Davis' homer was her first of the season.
In game two, EKU defeated Canisius by a score of 9-1 in five innings to move to 2-0 on the day.
EKU scored two in the first off a
Jeanay Riley double and
Vianna Barron single, scoring Riley.
Freshman
Kennedy Drafton homered in the third to pad EKU's lead to three, that was extended by a 5-run bottom of the fifth to end the game.
Rutan, Barron, Drafton, and
Jasmine Miller brought in runs in the fifth inning, leading the Colonels to a 9-4 advantage in hits over the Golden Griffins.
Sophomore pitcher
Tayteum Vigansky (3-1) went the full distance with five strikeouts.
EKU returns to action tomorrow to wrap up the Colonel Classic against Purdue Fort Wayne (12:30 p.m.) and Ball State (2:00 p.m.) back at Gertrude Hood Field.
