Wednesday afternoon on Petznick Field, the #4 Xavier Softball Gators and #5 Basha Bears engaged in a tense battle, as expected. Although Xavier established a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning and led the rest of the way, they experienced "brushes with impending doom" as the Bears threatened to light up the scoreboard on the several occasions.`

Alas, sophomore pitcher Sydney Root crafted another top-notch performance to hold Basha at bay, including throwing ten strikeouts, some coming at incredibly opportune moments. 

In the top of the first inning, Basha used a triple and two walks to load the bases with ZERO OUTS. The Root Remedy: pitch three strikeouts in a row. Impending doom thwarted!

In Xavier's half of the first inning, lead-off hitter, shortstop Sariah McNabb blasted a solo homerun to give the Gators a 1-0 lead. Later in the inning with a runner on second base, Angie Falls delivered an RBI-single, Xavier 2-0.

In the top of the 2nd inning, a Basha single put runners on first and third -- a threat? . . . yes -- but with just two outs. A smaller dose of the Root Remedy (one strikeout) doused the danger.

In the bottom of the second inning, McKenna Hackett beat out an infield hit to the 3rd baseman to get things started for the Gators. Joie Ramos was awarded first base after being hit by a pitch, and Sydney Root was granted an intentional walk. The bases are now loaded. Although there were two outs at this time, it's likely Basha was thinking, "This could get ugly". However, the Bears escaped when Xavier's next batter was thrown out at first base on a hit back to the pitcher.

The Gators scored their third run in the sixth inning on a hit-and-run play by Noe Romo on 2nd base and Leah Jollineau at the plate.  Romo took off on the pitch, Jollineau laid down a nice bunt toward the Basha pitcher, and the pitcher threw the ball over the head of the first baseman, allowing Romo to score from second. Xavier 3-1.

Xavier faced another Basha threat in the top of the seventh inning when a double and a single put Bears on first and third, but there were two outs. The next batter hit sharply to Root on the mound, and an easy throw to first ended the threat and the game. Xavier wins 3-1.

You can see this article come to life in the video below.