WEIRTON — Tyler Naquin, meet Madison Owens.

With the score tied at 2 in the bottom of the ninth, Owens – Madonna’s shortstop – smacked the ball down the right-field field and over the head of Bridgeport’s right fielder, and the sophomore sprinted all the way around the bases for a game-winning inside-the-park home run lifting the Madonna softball team to a 3-2 victory in nine innings Wednesday evening at Starvaggi Park.

“We didn’t hit the ball as well as we did yesterday, but this was a heck of a win,” Madonna (4-1) head coach Jason Backel said. “Bridgeport is a good team. They have two very good senior pitchers. They have a great coach. It is a quality win. 

“We came out flat. We had a nice win yesterday. We were not hitting the ball at all. We made some base-running mistakes. This is a sign of a good team. We were resilient until the end. We were gritty until the end.”

The Bulldogs led 2-0 entering the bottom of the sixth inning, but the girls from Belmont County were unable to hold the lead.

“It was a heck of a game,” Bridgeport (1-1) Hannah Boyer said. 

Trailing by two in the sixth, the visitors from Hancock County plated a pair of runs in the home half of the inning to knot the score at 2-all. Neither team was able to score in the seventh sending the game to extra innings.

Bridgeport had opportunities in the eighth and ninth innings to score, however, Blue Don freshman pitcher Peyton Conley rose to the challenge as she induced a groundout with the bases loaded in the eight to end that threat before getting another groundout in the ninth – this time with runners on second and third – to end that scoring opportunity.

Owens made a good play on the ball in the ninth before throwing to first to record the out and end the inning. 

“We were able to get out of that jam,” Backel said. “Their right fielder was playing up instead of back. She hit the ball over her head, and Madi is fast, so she was able to make it all around the bases. Thank goodness we were able to end the game there. There were two outs, and Madi made a great play on the ball in the ninth. She owned that inning.

“That is a quality win. They are a great team. We made the plays when we had to.”

Conley went the distance to pick up the win for the Blue Dons. She limited the visitors to two runs on one hit while striking out 12.

The victors committed seven errors in the game.

The Bulldogs took the lead in the third on an RBI groundout before adding another run in the fifth.

“We played great, but we left too many runners on base,” Boyer said. “Our pitchers pitched great.”

Madonna outhit Bridgeport, 7-1, in the game.

For Madonna, Chloe Orecchio and Conley each recorded a single, a double and an RBI, and Rylee Birkhimer and Alayna Szczerbinski both singled.

“It’s always a good game when we play Bridgeport,” Backel said. 

Naquin famously hit a walk-off inside-the-park home run in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a 3-2 victory against Toronto Aug. 19, 2016 at Progressive Field.

Madonna was scheduled to play Cameron at 5:30 p.m. Thursday on the road.

Bridgeport is slated to play Trinity Christian in a doubleheader starting at 10 a.m. Saturday down in Morgantown.

Madonna 3, Bridgeport 2

Bridgeport 001 010 000 – 2 1 1

Madonna    000 002 001 – 3 7 7

MADONNA (4-1): Conley (WP, 12K, 6BB) and Orecchio. Orecchio S, D, RBI; Conley S, D, RBI; Owens HR, RBI; R. Birkhimer S; Szczerbinski S.