LATROBE, Pa. (April 30) – The Saint Vincent softball team locked up the #4 seed in the upcoming Presidents' Athletic Conference Championship Tournament with a doubleheader sweep of Thiel.
In the opener, the Bearcats came back from a 6-0 deficit to win 12-11 in extra innings, while in game two, the SVC bats stayed hot in an 8-0, five-inning victory.
With the two wins, SVC ends the regular season with a 22-8 overall record and 11-7 mark in the PAC. As the #4 seed, the Bearcats will host the first round of the conference tournament on Tuesday, May 4.
GAME ONE – Saint Vincent 12, Thiel 11 (8 innings)
The Bearcats fell behind early due to some uncharacteristically sloppy defense, only to roar back for a 12-11, 8-inning victory.
Thiel wasted little time in taking a lead, using a hit and two SVC errors in the top of the first to jump in front 2-0.
The Tomcat offense continued to find success in the top of the second, as they scored four more unearned runs, taking advantage of three more SVC fielding miscues, to up the lead to 6-0.
The Bearcats promptly erased the deficit with a seven-run bottom of the second. On the first pitch of the inning,
Abbey Ginter tripled off the fence in straightaway center, before
Katelyn Stokan drew a walk.
Kelsey Tobin then followed with a double, plating Ginter, while
Leah Yoder stroked a sacrifice fly to left field to bring home Stokan to cut the gap to 6-2.
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Haley Bicko single put runners at first and third, before
Olivia Persin singled up the middle to plate Tobin and trim the deficit in half.
Jessica LaPorte singled to load the bases and
Alexandra Dillner followed with a single of her own to bring home both Persin and Bicko and make the score 6-5. Ginter then stroked her second hit of the inning, a single to right which brought home LaPorte and DIllner and gave SVC its first lead of the day, 7-6.
The SVC advantage was short-lived, as Thiel countered with three runs on five hits in the top of the third to go in front 9-6, before the Tomcats plated a pair of unearned runs in the fourth to take an 11-7 lead.
Saint Vincent answered right back in the bottom of the fourth. With two outs, LaPorte doubled to left, before Dillner blasted an opposite-field home run to right to pull her team to within 11-9.
The Bearcats would continue the comeback in the bottom of the fifth. Stokan opened the inning with a single and took second on a groundout. Two batters later, Bicko doubled to the fence in left-center to make it a one-run gme, before
Mary Maceda came through with a full-count, two-out single to plate Bicko and tie the game at 11.
Thiel threatened in the top of the seventh, loading the bases with one out on an infield single, error and walk. SVC hurler Bicko would then regroup to get an infield pop up and a fly out to right to leave the bases loaded and preserve the tie.
Saint Vincent would follow suit and load the bases in the bottom of the seventh after Tobin and Yoder singled and Maceda was hit by a pitch. Thiel, however, would escape the jam with a ground ball to end the inning and send the game into extras.
Bicko retired the side in order on just five pitches in the top of the eighth, and the Bearcats promptly went to work in the bottom half. LaPorte led off by doubling off the fence in center on the first pitch she saw, before Dillner closed out the game with a two-bagger of her own to the fence in right to score LaPorte with the game-winning run and complete the comeback.
The two teams combined for 29 hits in the game, with SVC accounting for 16. All nine SVC starters recorded at least one hit, led by 3-for-5 efforts by both Dillner and LaPorte. The pair also each scored two runs apiece, while Dillner drove in a game-high five RBIs. Tobin, Ginter and Bicko all went 2-for-4, with Bicko scoring two runs and Ginter driving in two.
Bicko earned the win in relief in the circle, throwing five innings and allowing two runs (both unearned) on four hits with three strikeouts.
GAME TWO – Saint Vincent 8, Thiel 0 (5 innings)
In game two, the Saint Vincent offense picked up right where it left off, racing out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Persin singled and LaPorte walked to begin the inning, before Dillner followed with a double to the corner in left to clear the bases.
SVC continued to roll in the bottom of the second, sending 10 batters to the plate to score five runs on six hits. Maceda walked and Persin singled to begin the inning, before LaPorte doubled to right to bring home Maceda with SVC's third run. Dillner then blooped a single into shwllow right to bring home Persin, before Ginter emptied the bases with a three-run home run to right-center, making it 7-0.
The Bearcats closed out their scoring in the abbreviated game in the bottom of the fourth. Tobin, Yoder and Maceda hit consecutive singles, before Persin's sacrifice fly to right brought home Tobin with the Bearcats' eighth run.
While the SVC bats were rolling, Bicko was equally impressive in the circle. After throwing five relief innings in the opener, the sophomore came back with a gem in the nightcap, allowing just one baserunner on a second inning infield single in the five-inning, complete-game shutout.
After the 16-hit attack in game one, the Bearcats recorded 12 in the nightcap. Ginter, Persin and LaPorte all finished 2-for-3, with Ginter driving in five RBIs and Persin and LaPorte each scoring two runs. Tobin reached base safely in all three plate appearances, going 2-for-2 with a walk.
The Bearcats will now prep for the PAC tournament, hosting the opening round on Tuesdayay. In the first game of the day, No. 5 seed Grove City and No. 6 seed Geneva will play at 3 p.m., with No. 4 SVC taking on the winner immediately afterward.
