GROVE CITY — Camryn Billig turned on a pitch and sent a towering fly ball deep over the left field fence at Grove City Memorial Park.

But foul.

Billig, a sophomore left fielder for the Grove City High softball team, turned on another pitch, sending a rocket far over the left field fence.

Just barely foul.

Suddenly, Billig was in a hole and had to regroup.

“I just had to get in there and breathe,” Billig said. “I had to keep my head in the game. I just had to breathe it out.”

Billig took two balls from Slippery Rock pitcher Cheyenne Hindman and then unloaded on another pitch, this one fair and a no-doubt home run to send the Eagles on their way to a 7-3 win over the Rockets on a windy Tuesday afternoon.

Billig hit the blast into a wind gust. Didn’t matter. It had plenty of carry.

“If I would have gone in there and thought about hitting a dinger, I wouldn’t have hit one,” Billig said. “It happened and it was big for our team. I’m just so happy it helped our team.”

Billig is the leadoff hitter for the Eagles and showed off her speed in the at-bat before her home run with a bunt single.

Billig is one of the reasons why Grove City coach Dave Gatewood is excited about his young team this season.

“She’s capable of that — it just shows you how capable she is as a ballplayer,” Gatewood said. “She has enough speed that she can bunt and we can count on her if we need a bunt, or we can count on her to hit a home run if we need a home run. She has some pop.”

Billig was just one part of a lineup that banged out 13 hits.

Morgan Shingledecker had a two-run double in the five-run fourth for Grove City, which included Billig’s two-run homer, and Jordan Malczak had a three-hit game for the Eagles (1-1).

The offense backed freshman Lizzie Malczak, who was making her first career start.

She gave up two runs in the first inning, including a bases-loaded walk, but settled down to limit Slippery Rock to just one more run the rest of the way.

“It didn’t start out the greatest ... she got a little bit nervous and fell behind some batters,” Gatewood said. “I think she came back pretty well.”

Grove City also played stellar defense behind its freshman pitcher.

“We knew coming in our defense was going to be a good defense and that we had sound pitching with a sophomore and a freshman,” Gatewood said. “We knew if we pitched either one, the defense would be strong behind them.”

Slippery Rock led 3-2 heading into the fateful fourth thanks in large part to Hindman and Julianna Hutchinson.

Hindman led off the game with a double and later scored and Hutchison went 3-for-3 with a double and two runs scored for the Rockets (1-1).

But Grove City caught up to Hindman.

“At times she was accurate and at times she left the ball over the plate,” said Slippery Rock coach Dan Hindman. “Those were the ones that got hit. It’s part of the game.

“We talked about being competitive and not giving up and holding your head the way you should during the course of competition. It’s just the game. Sometimes you get it. Sometimes you give it.”

Billig certainly got it. After the game, her mother proudly carried around the ball she crushed over the fence.

“We came back and we won,” Billig said. “I’m glad I could help my team. It felt good.”

Slippery Rock 201 000 0 — 3 9 1

Grove City 200 500 x — 7 13 0

W: Lizzie Malczak 7IP (4K, 2BB). L: Cheyenne Hindman 6IP (4K, 1BB).

Slippery Rock (1-1): Hindman 2B 1B, Julianna Hutchinson 2-1B 2B, Ayslyn Duffy 1B, Hannah Wilson 1B RBI, JoElla Neal RBI, Morgan Murdock 1B, Brynn Hornder 1B

Grove City (1-1): Camryn Billig HR 1B 2-RBI, Gabrielle Herald 2B 1B, Jordan Malczak 3-1B RBI, Lauren Wentz 1B, Lizzie Malczak 2B RBI, Kelly McClearn 1B, Morgan Shingledecker 2B 1B 2-RBI, Jordyn Anderson 1B RBI

Thursday: Slippery Rock at Conneaut; New Castle at Grove City