PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Bethany College softball team routed Pitt-Greensburg 11-0 in five innings in their first game Saturday, but wasted opportunities by the Bison came back to haunt them in a 5-4 eight-inning loss to the Bobcats in the nightcap of their twinbill played Saturday at the Peterson Sports Complex on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh.
After two scoreless frames in the first game, BC (8-6) plated three runs in the third inning. Sophomore CF Alison Powell (Nashport, Ohio/Tri-Valley) scored on a fielder’s choice and RBI singles by senior 3B Andrea Thomas (Toronto, Ohio) and sophomore catcher Liz Kletzli (Carnegie, Pa./Chartiers Valley) made it 3-0.
The lead grew to 8-0 in the fourth with five more Bethany tallies. Thomas smacked a two-run double and Kletzli and senior LF Cortney Lax (Orrville, Ohio) both hit RBI singles in the inning as well. The final three runs all came across in the fifth without a run-producing hit, as a wild pitch brought two in and a fielder’s choice allowed the final run to score.
Bethany finished the game with 13 hits, including three from Thomas, who also had three RBIs, and three from Butler, who scored a pair. Kletzli ripped two singles and knocked in two and Powell set the table with two hits, a walk and three run scored.
Senior Cortney Newland (Carmichaels, Pa.) earned the win in the circle, as she tossed four scoreless innings and allowed just two hits. Sophomore Heidi Soriano (Austintown, Ohio/Austintown Fitch) completed the shutout with a scoreless fifth frame.
In game two, Pitt-Greensburg scored two runs in the first to take an early lead, but Bethany tied the game with a pair in the third. Freshman 2B Ashlee Needy (Chicago, Ill./Marist) brought in one with a single and the tying score crossed on a UPG error.
After Bethany left the bases loaded in the fourth, the teams swapped scores in the fifth inning. Needy hit a leadoff double and was chased home by a Thomas RBI single, but BC’s lead was short-lived, as the Bobcats tied the game with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth.
The game carried into the eighth inning still knotted at 3-3. With the international tiebreaker rule in effect, the Bison took the lead on an RBI single by Lax and were threatening for more, as they loaded the bases. However, a ground out back to the pitcher ended the inning and Bethany stranded three more runners to bring their total to 10 in the game.
After a runner was placed on second to start the bottom of the eighth, a Bethany error put runners on the corners. A pop up kept the runners at their stations, but Rachel Peebles belted a double off the wall in center field to score two and win the game for the Bobcats.
Led by five players with multiple hits, Bethany’s bats produced 13 hits compared to just nine for Pitt-Greensburg. Sophomore OF Maria Vallone (Rochester, N.Y./Webster Schroeder) had three, while Needy, Kletzli, Lax and freshman Kristina Massie (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington Central) all posted two apiece.
Sophomore Emily Jump (Milford, Del./Polytech) started and threw the first five innings for the Bison, allowing three runs on six hits. Newland relieved in the sixth and went the final 2 1/3 to take the loss, which dropped her record to 5-2 this season.
Bethany is now off until next weekend when they will be on the road for doubleheaders at Geneva Saturday and Allegheny Sunday.
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