NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. (April 16) - The Saint Vincent softball team dropped a pair of road games to conference unbeaten Westminster College. The Bearcats lost 4-0 in game one before falling 7-6 in game two.
The wins kept the host Titans unbeaten in Presidents' Athletic Conference play, as they improved to 10-0 in the league and 17-11 overall. With the losses, Saint Vincent falls to 6-4 in league play and 18-10 overall in 2016.
In game one, Westminster scored four unearned runs in the bottom of the third inning and made it stand up for the victory. The Saint Vincent offense managed just two hits in the game, both of which came in the top of the fourth when the Bearcats left the bases loaded.
Samantha Emert and
Sarah Swettlen both recorded a single in the contest.
Emert suffered the loss, giving up four unearned runs over six innings of work. Emert allowed seven hits and three walks while striking out just one.
Saint Vincent fell behind early in game two, allowing a run in the bottom of the first to the Titans. SVC's offense found life in the third inning when sophomore
Shelby Noel blasted her PAC leading sixth home run of the season. The Noel blast brought home
Morgan Murphy and gave SVC a 2-1 lead. The Titans answered back quickly, responding with three runs in the bottom of the frame to regain the lead at 4-2.
The Bearcats scored two runs in the fourth to tie the game at 4-4, as Murphy earned an RBI on a hit batter with the bases loaded, bringing home Emert. Swettlen then walked with the bags full to score
Kelsey Hunter. The Bearcats had an opportunity to take the lead, having the bases loaded with one out. However, Westminster induced a pop up on the infield for the second out and a foul out to left field to end the inning.
Westminster responded with two runs in the bottom of the fourth and added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth, taking a 7-4 lead into the final inning.
The Bearcats tried to rally in their final at-bat. Noel singled to lead off the inning. After moving up to second on a wild pitch,
Emily Duerr beat out an infield single, advancing Noel to third and bringing the tying run to the plate. Emert then walked to load the bases with no outs. Hunter singled to short to score Noel, cutting the deficit to 7-5. Freshman
Kelly Flaherty drove home another run on a pop up to second, scoring pinch runner
Alexus Fearer to make it 7-6. However, pinch runner
Kristin Segiel was caught off first base and doubled up.
Kelsey Lineberger then struck out looking to end the contest, stranding the tying run on third base.
Noel paced the offense in game two, going 3-for-4 with the home run, two RBIs and two runs scored. Duerr and Hunter each added two hits.
Saint Vincent returns to action when they host Geneva College on Tuesday, April 19 for a PAC doubleheader. Start time is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
