LATROBE, Pa. (April 27) – The Saint Vincent softball team split a doubleheader against Presidents' Athletic Conference foe Bethany, falling 5-0 in the opener before rebounding with an 8-7 win in eight innings in an exciting, back-and-forth nightcap.
With the split, Saint Vincent moves to 18-8 overall and 7-7 in the PAC, while Bethany leaves Latrobe with an 18-13 overall mark and 11-5 conference record.
GAME ONE – Bethany 5, Saint Vincent 0
In the opener, the Bearcats saw their leadoff hitter reach in five of seven innings, but were unable to come up with a big hit, stranding a total of nine runners on base.
The Bison took a 1-0 lead with two outs in the top of the third, using a double, single and a throwing error to plate the game's first run.
Bethany used a similar formula to add another run in the top of the fourth, with two singles, a bunt and another throwing error upping its lead to 2-0.
The Bison continued to add on, sending eight runners to the plate in the fifth and scoring two runs on four hits to open up a four-run lead.
After stranding runners in three of the first four innings, the Bearcats looked primed to find the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth.
Alexandra Dillner and
Abbey Ginter hit back-to-back singles to open the frame, before
Kelsey Tobin's base hit loaded the bases with two outs. The Bison escaped the damage with an inning-ending strikeout, and the SVC deficit remained four runs.
Bethany racked back-to-back doubles in the top of the sixth to plate its fifth run of the game, putting it out of reach.
Olivia Persin recorded two of SVC's six hits in the loss, including the team's lone extra-base hit with a seventh-inning double. Tobin reached base three times, as she drew a pair of walks prior to her sixth-inning single.
Meghan Braun started in the circle and worked all seven innings for SVC, allowing five runs (three earned) on 11 hits with four strikeouts.
Josie Wise earned the complete game victory for Bethany, scattering six hits with eight strikeouts in the shutout.
GAME TWO – Saint Vincent 8, Bethany 7
In game two, Bethany's bats stayed hot, as they opened the game with a pair of runs in the first inning on three hits and a walk. The Bison would then open up a 3-0 lead with an unearned run in the top of the third, but SVC's offense would finally awaken in the bottom half.
Katelyn Stokan, Tobin and
Haley Bicko led off the bottom of the third with consecutive singles, before a misplayed ball off the bat of
Mary Maceda plated Stokan and cut the deficit to 3-1. Persin then followed with a long single to left to bring home Tobin and make it a 3-2 game.
The Bearcats then erupted with a lengthy bottom of the fourth, scoring five runs, all with two outs. Stokan reached on a fielder's choice and Tobin singled, before Bicko laced a triple to right-center field to empty the bases and give SVC a 4-3 lead. Maceda followed by drawing a walk before Persin singled to plate Bicko and make it 5-2. An error off of a ball hit by Dillner would then bring home Maceda and Persin to cap off the five-run inning and up the Bearcat lead to 7-3.
Bethany refused to go away, countering with two runs in the fifth to cut the SVC lead to 7-5. Bicko was then summoned to the circle from second base and retired the final two Bethany batters of the fifth and pitched around a two-out single in the sixth to keep the lead at two.
After a quick out to start the top of the seventh, the Bison put together another rally, using a single, an error and a double to tie the game at 7.
The teams would trade zeroes over the next two half-innings, before the SVC heroics in the seventh. Persin smacked the second pitch of her lead-off at bat in the eighth to the fence in right center and legged out a triple. Two batters later, Dillner lined a ball to right field that eluded the fielder and scored Persin to end the game.
Persin had another big game offensively to lead SVC's 11-hit attack, as she went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored, capping off a 5-for-8 doubleheader. Tobin, Stokan, Bicko and Ginter each had two hits apiece, with Tobin and Bicko each scoring two runs.
Bicko earned the win in relief, throwing the final 3.2 innings and allowing two unearned runs on four hits with one strikeout.
Wise was again the pitcher of record for the Bison, taking the loss in relief after throwing 4.1 innings and allowing the walk-off run in the eighth.
The Bearcats will now close out the 2022 regular season with a pair of home doubleheaders, beginning with a 3:30 p.m. matchup on Friday, April 29, against Washington & Jefferson.
