Army’s Springman Fans 12 in 1-0 League Win

Mar 28, 2018

Army_Courtney Springman — Army Courtney Springman

LEWISBURG, PA. – In a pitcher’s duel that came down to the wire, it was the Army West Point softball team that managed to edge out a 1-0 victory against Bucknell in a Patriot League contest on Sunday afternoon at Becker Field.

The Black Knights (10-16, 2-1 Patriot League) and Bison (9-18, 1-2 Patriot League) played in their second one-run contest this weekend and this time, Army came out on top to secure the series win.

Army received a dominant pitching performance from Courtney Springman, who tossed a stellar seven innings. She fanned a career-best 12 batters, allowing just three hits and no earned runs.

At the plate, Carrie Reilly and Ally Snelling each picked up a pair of hits in the contest, combining to go 4-for-6. Snelling was responsible for driving in the game-winning run in the seventh inning.

Both offensives got off of to a sluggish start as the starting pitchers from Army and Bucknell were locked in. Through the opening six frames, the Black Knights and Bison combined for six hits. Altogether, the two squads put 13 runners in scoring position, but Springman and Raeanne Geffert continuously worked out of trouble.

Army broke into the scoring column in the seventh. Reilly led the inning off with a bloop single to left and was sacrificed over to second. Snelling then came up and drove in the game-winning run before advancing to second on the play after the Bison outfielder bobbled the ball. She would be left stranded on second as the inning came to a close.

In the home half of the seventh, the leadoff hitter for the Bison was hit by a pitch and sacrificed over to second. Springman picked up a timely strikeout on Bucknell’s top hitter, but the ensuing batter was walked. With runners on first and second and two outs, Springman got the final batter to groundout to short and Army sealed the league win.

The Black Knights will welcome Syracuse for a midweek doubleheader on Wednesday at the Army West Point Softball Complex. The first game is scheduled to start at 2 p.m.