CLERMONT, FLA.—The Carthage College softball team concluded their 10-game Florida slate with a pair of games against University of St. Thomas and Hendrix College on Wednesday morning at Hancock Park in Clermont, Fla. The Lady Reds set the tone with a 1-0 lead against St. Thomas, but couldn't hang on in a 2-1 loss. Carthage came back from a 4-0 deficit to defeat Hendrix College 5-4, thanks to Darian Pelsor's three-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh inning.
 
The Lady Reds exit their Florida trip with a 6-6, 0-0 CCIW record. The Tommies, who recently dropped out of the NFCA Top-25 Coaches Poll after being ranked #18 in the preseason, own an 8-3 overall record while Hendrix College falls to 10-10.
 
St. Thomas 2, Lady Reds 1
 
Emmily Zinkiewicz lit the scoreboard for Carthage in the third inning when she launched her first collegiate home run to make the score 1-0. The Tommies responded in the bottom of the third inning when Melissa Barry laid a bunt single, and later scored from third base on Chase Shortly's sacrifice fly to knot the game at one run a piece.
 
The Lady Reds only mustered one more hit the remainder of the contest. St. Thomas took advantage of that with a three-hit fifth inning that resulted in one run to give them a 2-1 lead. The game-winning run occurred when Brenna Walek notched a bases-loaded single that scored Sammy Hogan.
 
Katie Herron (3 1/3 innings) and Rachel Fanella (2 2/3 innings) collectively surrendered eight hits and one earned run on the pitching rubber for Carthage. Zinkiewicz, Vivian Juarez, Kayla Uhwat-Vicicondi and Fanella each contributed a hit to the Lady Reds' offense.
 
Lady Reds 5, Hendrix 4
 
The Warriors took advantage of Carthage fielding errors with a four-run third inning en route to a 4-0 lead. The Lady Reds wouldn't surrender another run as their comeback began in the third inning when Marissa Maldonado reached on an error. Zinkiewicz followed that with a double that sent Maldonado to third base. Juarez knocked home Maldonado with an RBI-groundout to make the score 4-1.
 
Juarez also cut Hendrix's lead in half at 4-2 with a fifth-inning RBI-single that scored Ellie Bernero, who led off a single.
 
The bottom of the seventh inning saw Maldonado (reached on an error) and Zinkiewicz (infield single) reach base. With two outs, Darian Pelsor launched a three-run home run to center field to give Carthage a 5-4 victory.
 
Carthage pitcher Amy Goldsmith surrendered five hits, four runs (none earned) and six strikeouts in the complete-game victory. Zinkiewicz went two-for-four at the plate for the Lady Reds.
 
The Lady Reds will return to the Carthage Softball Field for the first time in 2017 on Tuesday, March 28 when they host Wisconsin Lutheran College (DH). First pitch is schedule for 3:00 p.m.