GREENVILLE, Pa. (April 10) - The Saint Vincent softball team split a Presidents' Athletic Conference road doubleheader with Thiel College. Saint Vincent earned a 6-4 victory over the Tomcats in game one before falling 11-4 in the nightcap.
The game one victory was the 200th career win for 11th year head coach
Nicole Karr.
Game 1 Recap
Saint Vincent jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the top of the second. Timely hitting and shaky defense from Thiel allowed the early outburst for the Bearcats' offense.
Mackenzie Gostomski,
Kelly Flaherty and
Kelsey Hunter all recorded RBI singles in the inning.
Thiel started the bottom of the fourth inning with back-to-back singles, eventually plating one run on a groundout.
SVC added on a pair of runs in the top of the fifth inning.
Shelby Noel singled to center and
Kelsey Hunter walked to open up the scoring opportunity.
Emily Duerr laced an RBI single to left to bring home Noel and make it 5-1. Hunter would eventually come around to score on a sacrifice fly by
Samantha Emert, putting SVC up 6-1.
The host Tomcats would battle back, scoring two runs in the bottom of the fifth and tacking on another score in the sixth, closing the deficit to 6-4.
A two-out single by Thiel brought the potential tying run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh. However, Emert escaped to give the Bearcats their fifth straight victory.
Gostomski, Flaherty and Hunter recorded two hits each in the victory. Emert improved her record to 9-3 in the circle with the complete game effort. The reigning PAC Pitcher of the Week battled in the victory, allowing four runs on 10 hits.
Game 2 Recap
Saint Vincent got off to a fast start in game two, scoring three runs in the top of the first. Gostomski reached on an error to start the game, then Flaherty and Hunter both singled to load the bases.
Kelsey Lineberger delivered an RBI single to score Gostomski and make it 1-0 SVC. Duerr then ripped a two-run double to deep center to score Flaherty and Hunter to make it 3-0.
The Tomcats responded in a big way in the bottom of the first, plating five runs on five hits and two walks.
Noel used an RBI single to score Gostomski, cutting the deficit to 5-4 in the top of the second. However, Thiel added an unearned run in the bottom of the frame and scored on a wild pitch in the fourth, extending the lead to 7-4. The Tomcats would tack on two more in the fifth and sixth innings to close out the scoring.
Duerr and Flaherty each recorded two hits in the nightcap. Gostomski scored two runs out of the leadoff spot. Duerr suffered the loss in the circle, as she surrendered five runs in the first inning.
Saint Vincent moves to 12-10 overall and 5-3 in PAC play. After the split, Thiel now sits at 9-13 overall and 4-2 in conference play.
The Bearcats return to action with a home doubleheader against first place Westminster College on Thursday, April 13. Start time for the twinbill is set for 1 p.m.