Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
The Saint Vincent softball team split a Presidents' Athletic Conference doubleheader at Thiel College, winning a wild opener 14-8 before falling 3-2 in the nightcap.
In the opener, the Bearcats established a season-high for both runs (14) and hits (17), and came back from an 8-5 deficit by scoring nine unanswered runs over the final two innings.
The visitors took a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first, sending eight hitters on the plate to tally two runs on five hits, with RBI singles from
Emily Petrowsky and
Alyssa Grossman.
The Tomcats shook off the slow start to storm back with three runs in the second and three more in the fourth, racking four extra base hits over the span, to jump ahead 6-2.
Saint Vincent answered back, batting around in the top of the fifth to score three runs on five hits.
Leanna Seminsky singled and
Maria Adams doubled to lead off the frame, and then
Becky Deane followed with a single to score Seminsky. The next two batters - Petrowsky and Grossman - each produced sacrifice flies, and the Bearcats trailed just 6-5.
Thiel responded to score twice in the home half of the fifth, going up 8-5, but the Bearcats countered in a big way.
Megan Regula, Seminsky, and Adams hit consecutive singles to lead off the inning, and all three eventually scored, tying the game at 8-all.
The Bearcats completed the comeback in the top of the seventh.
Kerstin Makowski doubled to lead off the inning, and moved to third on a Regula sacrifice bunt. Seminsky reached on an error, with Makowski scoring the go-ahead run, before Adams and Deane hit back-to-back singles to load the bases. A ground out by Petrowsky scored Seminsky, before Grossman walked to load the bases.
Sam Shumaker then came through with the biggest hit of the game, clearing the bases with an inside the park grand slam to put the Bearcats on top 14-8.
Bearcat reliever
Emily Lauterbach then pitched out of a jam in the seventh, stranding two Thiel runners to earn the win in relief of starter
Shauna Hetrick. Lauterbach threw two scoreless innings, striking out four and allowing three hits.
Six different SVC players tallied multiple hits in the win, led by Adams, who went 4-for-5 with three runs scored. Shumaker and Seminsky each had three hits, with the former scoring four runs and the latter driving in four, while Petrowsky and Deane both had two hits.
In the nightcap, the Bearcats, playing as the home team, again scored first. With one out in the bottom of the first, Adams singled for her fifth hit of the afternoon, and after moving to third on a single from Deane, the sophomore scored on a one-base hit from Grossman to go up 1-0.
The Tomcats would jump ahead 3-1 in the top of the third, on a two out, bases loaded double from Melissa Rankin. From there, Grossman, who started in the circle for SVC, allowed just two bases runners over the final four frames, keeping the Bearcats in the game.
Saint Vincent had chances to cut into the deficit in each of the next two innings, but stranded a pair of runners in the fourth and a runner at third in the fifth. The Bearcats would finally find the board again in the sixth. Deane walked to lead off, and moved to second on a ground out. She then scored on an RBI single from Shumaker to cut the gap to 3-2.
It was as close as the Bearcats could get, however, as SVC went down quietly in the bottom of the seventh to settle for the split.
In contrast to the team's prodigious offensive output in the opener, the Bearcats managed just six hits - all singles - in the nightcap, one apiece from Adams, Regula, Shumaker, Deane, Grossman, and Petrowsky.
Grossman was saddled with the hard-luck loss in the circle, going the distance and allowing three runs on five hits with three strikeouts.
After the split, the Bearcats' record moves to 15-11 overall, and 5-9 in the PAC, while Thiel sits at 10-20/6-8. Saint Vincent still has slim hopes of qualifying for the four-team PAC playoffs, and will wrap up the regular season with a doubleheader at Washington & Jefferson on Wednesday afternoon.
