JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (April 2, 2024) – Taylor Suchy has a flare for the dramatic.
 
For the second time this season, Suchy delivered a walk-off hit as her ninth-inning single to right-center capped off a ninth-inning rally, as ETSU softball defeated Gardner-Webb 5-4 in Tuesday's second game of its doubleheader from Betty Basler Field.
 
The Blue & Gold rallied three times in the nightcap as they fell behind 1-0 in the second inning before tying the game at one on an RBI single by Riley Nayadley in the third. After trailing 3-1 in the sixth, freshman first baseman Maddison Stowell had an RBI double to score Suchy and junior newcomer Olivia Absher laid down a perfect bunt to bring in Stowell from third to tie the game at three in the bottom half of the frame.
 
With both teams being held scoreless in the seventh and eighth innings, the Runnin' Bulldogs took a 4-3 lead on a sacrifice fly RBI in the top of the ninth, but the Buccaneers kept battling and capped off the comeback.
 
In the bottom of the ninth, Absher came through with another key bunt single to move pinch runner Tiare Rieger over to third – putting runners on the corners with no outs. From there, Faith Adams was called upon to pinch hit and she hit into a fielder's choice with Absher being out at second. Newcomer and local product Brylee Mesusan reached on her second infield single of the game to load the bases. Gardner-Webb moved one out away from getting out of the jam when they got Cameron Young to pop out to short on a 3-2 pitch, but with two outs and the bases full of Buccaneers, Nayadley kept the game alive. The Buccaneer shortstop hit a rocket to third base, which ricocheted off the glove of Araceli Pesqueira for an RBI single as Rieger scored the tying run. Down to her final strike, Suchy placed one perfectly over the second baseman's head into shallow right-center for the game-winning hit as Jasmine Sanchez scored, giving ETSU the one-run walk-off victory.
 
With the Buccaneer offense coming through in the clutch, freshman pitcher Cameron Lauretta went the distance for her first collegiate victory. Lauretta (1-2), making her third collegiate start, allowed four runs (one earned) on six hits in nine innings of work. Gardner-Webb used three different pitchers with Kalyn Kyle being tagged with the loss (10-4) after allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits in two innings.
 
As a team, ETSU out-hit Gardner-Webb, 13-6, with Mesusan, Nayadley, Suchy, Stowell and Absher all registering two hits. Suchy and Stowell had the extra base-hits for the Blue & Gold – both resulting in doubles.
 
In game one, Gardner-Webb jumped out to an 8-0 lead en route to securing an 11-2 six-inning victory.
 
With the split, ETSU moved to 6-23 on the season and snapped a five-game losing streak. Gardner-Webb saw its record move to 25-15.
 
The Bucs continue their homestand this weekend when ETSU hosts Western Carolina in a three-game Southern Conference series. The teams will play a doubleheader Saturday starting at 1 p.m., while Sunday's finale is also slated for 1 p.m. at Betty Basler Field.
 
For more information about ETSU softball, visit ETSUBucs.com and select softball.