Knoff Works Overtime in Troy Sweep

While Lindsey Knoff walked to the plate to lead off the seventh inning for Troy, she looked into the stands and told some fans she was going to hit a double up the middle. She amended that seconds later, saying she was going to right field instead, since Rosary pitcher Mallory Anderson was throwing her pitches outside.

On Anderson’s first pitch, Knoff slammed a shot down the right-field line for a triple that led to No. 8 Troy’s 1-0 nonleague victory over sixth-ranked Rosary in the opening game of a doubleheader at Lyons Field.

Troy also won the second game, 4-2, in 11 innings.

“She threw me a big, fat one outside,” Knoff said. “I was scared after I hit it, though, because I thought Dana [Kenney] was going to catch it.”

Kenney almost made the play, diving toward the left-field line, but the ball bounced just fair and rolled past Kenney, allowing Knoff to go to third.

“We spend a lot of time visualizing where we want our hits to go and sometimes that seems to work,” Troy Coach Sue Garrison said. “Knoff definitely gave our team the spark today.”

After the next two batters made outs on a pop fly and a grounder back to the mound, Molly McMasters singled to center and Knoff easily scored, giving Troy (10-4) the lead.

Knoff’s performance at the plate--two hits and the game’s only run--was outdone by her work on the mound. She allowed just two hits and struck out seven.

In the second game, Garrison put Knoff on the mound again after sending backup pitcher Lauren Chambers to help the junior varsity team.

Knoff (10-3), who Garrison said was tired after pitching her 18th inning, gave up two unearned runs on seven hits.

After Rosary (5-4) tied the score, 2-2, in the bottom of the seventh, Troy’s Sophia Reynolds doubled in Crystal Moore for a one-run lead. Knoff followed with a ground out to second that scored Lisa Jackson from third, securing the victory.

“This was huge for us. The kids were stoked,” said Garrison, whose team lost to Rosary in the championship game of the Fullerton Tournament. “We came through with our bats for a change.”