Ostrander’s single lifts Huntingdon softball in bottom of the seventh

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Huntingdon sophomore Holly Ostrander will be the first to say Sunday's 5-4 win over Alabama A&M took more than one player. But Ostrander certainly did her part for the Huntingdon softball team in its final game of the Birmingham-Southern Invitational.

Trailing 4-3 with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning and runners on second and third, Ostrander singled to right field to score Brittany Richardson and Lauren Welch to end the game.

"We were determined to win," Ostrander said. "We decided in the first inning we weren't leaving without the win and the team pulled together to make it happen."

Huntingdon improved to 2-1 on its opening weekend of play. It was a three game stretch that saw Ostrander bat .889 in three games, drive in six runs and score three times. In Sunday's win, she was 3-for-3 with three RBIs and a run. The Lady Hawks finished with six hits in the game.

"I knew when she came to the plate that she was going to get a big hit," Huntingdon head coach Gynger Williams said. "She just had that look of determination on her face. She had a big weekend and she ended it with a big hit."

In a back-and-forth game, Huntingdon took a 1-0 lead in the first when Richardson scored on an Ostrander single. A&M (2-2) answered with two runs in the second before Aleah Payne tripled to score Richardson in the third. Trailing 3-2 in the fourth, Ostrander scored on a Kristi Taylor single. A&M took a 4-3 lead in the fifth and held it until the bottom of the seventh.

Bree Giordana (2-1) picked up the win for Huntingdon, striking out seven, walking one, hitting one batter and allowing one hit in three innings of relief.

"This weekend was a good start for us," Ostrander said. "We have a better idea of what we can do and what we need to work on to get better."

Huntingdon travels to Spring Hill on Tuesday for a doubleheader. Game 1 is set for noon.