Hanover vs. Grove City, Feb. 25
Batson walk-off homer lifts Hanover to victory
Freshman infielder Brittany Batson (Wilmington, Ohio) smacked a two-run home run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift Hanover College's softball team to a 12-11 victory against Grove City College (Pa.). The contest was held Wednesday, Feb. 25, during the NTC Challenge in Clermont, Fla.
Hanover, which snapped a six-game losing streak with the triumph, rallied from a seven-run deficit to post its first win of the season. The Panthers trailed 11-4 after Grove City batted in the top of the fourth inning.
Hanover (1-6) scored four runs in the bottom half of the fourth to cut the margin to 11-8. The Panthers added one run in each of the fifth and sixth innings to pull within a run at 11-10.
Junior catcher Megan Downey (Kokomo, Ind.) led off Hanover's half of the seventh inning with a walk. She advanced to second base on a wild pitch and, with one out, moved to third on a ground out by freshman outfielder Blakli Nading (North Vernon, Ind.).
With two outs, Batson swatted the first pitch over the fence in center field to lift Hanover to the win. The dinger was the first of Batson's collegiate career.