The slimmest of margins

The No. 16-ranked Armstrong State University softball team faced a tough task in the opening round of the DII Softball Championships on Tuesday, taking on No. 5 Humboldt State and the game was a microcosm of what makes softball such a great, yet frustrating sport. The Pirates fell to the Lumberjacks, 3-2, where one inning made the difference in the game. 

The game was scoreless in the bottom of the third inning when Humboldt State got an RBI single to take a 1-0 lead. What followed was unusual - a double steal on a 1-0 pitch, which put runners on at second and third. The Pirates appealed the batter's check swing on the pitch - and after the appeal was unsuccessful, pitcher Tori Bates was called for an illegal pitch (softball's version of a balk) which allowed the runner from third to score. Ball four to the next batter went to the backstop, with a passed ball allowing another runner to score - and just like that, it was a 3-0 deficit.

Not insurmountable, but the Pirates did not get their first hit until the sixth inning. When they did though, it was a leadoff single by Peyton Roth and a two-run home run from Logan Harrell - the fourth home run for the freshman in NCAA play so far this year. 

Humboldt State closed out the 3-2 win but the little plays that happened in the third inning are what made the difference - a 3-2 loss could have just as easily been a 2-1 win, or even an extra inning contest still going on right now.

All is certainly not lost - last season North Georgia was no-hit in its first game of the DII Championships and went all the way through the losers bracket to win the DII title. And the Pirates have been in this spot before as well, losing the first game to Central Oklahoma in the 2013 DII Championships only to win two straight elimination games, so when Armstrong State takes on Grand Valley State on Wednesday, the Pirates have a little bit of history on their side.

It also sets up an interesting afternoon at Metro State as at 5 p.m. CT, you will have Armstrong State softball playing at the same time Armstrong State men's tennis will be playing about 150 feet away from each other. The Pirate men take on Edinboro in its first round action at the Regency Athletic Complex tennis courts. Prior to those games, Armstrong State's women will face Lynn at 11 a.m. CT at the Gates Tennis Center. Go Pirates!