Walking to a win: GW softball edges Chatham for first victory

Walking to a winIt took a second to register, but when it did, cheers came roaring out of the George Washington dugout.

Lindsey Kregor drew a bases loaded walk as GW rallied from two runs down to beat Chatham 7-6 in the bottom of the seventh on Monday in Danville. It was the Eagles’ first victory of the season.

Trailing entering its final at-bat, GW’s Courtney Burner led off with a double to left-center field and Linzy Dunn followed with a single. GW coach Kelly Riley then called on KeeKee Hutchins to pinch hit. Hutchins came through with an RBI single that dropped into center field.

“Sometimes you have to make that executive decision,” Riley said. “You need the runs and I knew we were down by two. … KeeKee’s got a strong bat on her.”

After Rachel Kilgore earned a walk, Taylor Talley singled in the game-tying run. That put Kregor in the batter’s box, where she took Ball 4 on a 3-1 count that brought home Hutchins.

“They got runners on base and we didn’t play very smart,” Chatham coach Joe Lee said. “They tried to give us a couple of outs and we didn’t take them. Give them credit, they made the plays when they had to.”

Chatham (3-5) led 5-4 entering the seventh inning, but the Cavaliers added an insurance run on Jessica Goolsby’s RBI single. Lee thought that would be enough run support with three outs to go.

“We figured with that last run we put up in the seventh that we should be OK,” Lee said. “We should have been, but we made a couple of mistakes and they capitalized.”

As the Eagles celebrated their first win of the season in left field, the Cavaliers quietly gathered their things and exited the dugout in shock.

Chatham took a 2-0 lead after one inning thanks to a two-run single by Hannah Meadors. The Cavs added another run the next inning on Brooke Powell’s RBI single.

GW struck in the bottom half of the second with three runs — all unearned. Sulter drove in the final two with a double down the first base line.

Both teams traded a run in the third, but Chatham took a 5-4 lead in the fourth with the help of a GW error. Kasey Anderson, who scored on that play, led Chatham with a pair of singles.

GW’s Amber Sulter got the win in relief. She pitched the final 4 2-3 innings and allowed just one earned run while striking out three.

Burner finished 2-for-4, and Dunn and Talley were both 2-for-3.

“We’re very fortunate to have a group of girls this year that will keep on fighting,” Riley said. “They might get a little down on themselves, but they fight back.

“We waited until the last minute, but we pulled out the win.”