NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. (May 8) – The Saint Vincent softball team saw its 2022 season come to an end with an 8-7 loss to Westminster in a thrilling, back-and-forth affair in the Presidents' Athletic Conference Softball Championship Tournament.

The Bearcats end the 2022 season with a 24-10 overall record.

Saint Vincent jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second inning, only to see Westminster answer with five runs in the bottom of the fourth. The Bearcats came right back with a two-spot in the fifth to take a 7-4 lead, only to see the Titans score three more times in the fifth to go up 8-6.

SVC pulled to within one with a run in the top of the sixth, and then looked to rally in the seventh. With two outs and Leah Yoder on first, Haley Bicko smacked a double to the gap in left center field. Yoder attempted to score the tying run from first, but was cut down at the plate to end the game.

Rewinding to the first inning, the Bearcats wasted little time in taking a lead. With one out, Jessica LaPorte doubled to right and Aleandra Dillner reached on an error. Abbey Ginter then cleared the bases with a towering home run to right-center field to give SVC an early 3-0 lead.

Saint Vincent then manufactured a run in the top of the second when Bicko singled to lead off, advanced to second on a Mary Maceda bunt, took third on an Olivia Persin ground ball and scored on a base hit from LaPorte to make it 4-0.

Westminster countered in a big way in the bottom of the fourth, sending 11 batters to the plate and scoring five runs on five hits and an error. The damage could have been worse, but relief pitcher Bicko stranded the bass loaded with a strikeout and fly out to end the inning.

The Bearcats promptly answered back in the top of the fifth. After Persin stroked a double off of the fence in left center, LaPorte smacked a line drive home run to lef t field to give the lead back to SVC, 6-5.
The lead was short-lived, however, as the Titans put together a big bottom of the fifth , scoring three runs on four hits and one SVC error to  jump back in front, 8-6.

Saint Vincent got one run back in the top of the sixth. Bicko, Persin and LaPorte all singled in the inning, before Dillner reached on a chopper to the left side that plated Bicko to make it a one-run game, 8-7.
Meghan Braun, SVC's third pitcher of the day, kept Westminster off the board in the bottom of the sixth, giving the Bearcats one last chance to come back.

Katelyn Stokan opened the seventh with a sharp line-out, before Kelsey Tobin lined a single to left and gave way to pinch hitter Emma Torretti. Yoder followed by reaching on a fielder's choice on which Torretti was retied for the second out. Bicko then lined an 0-1 pitch into the gap in left center. Yoder raced around the bases from first base with the tying run, but was beaten at the plate by a perfect 7-6-2 relay to end the game.

Saint Vincent out-hit Westminster 13-11, led by LaPorte, who went 4-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Bicko finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored, while Persin went 2-for-4.

Olivia Bushore started and took the no-decisio in the circle, allowing four earned runs on five hits in 3.1 innings. Bicko took the loss, surrendering three runs in 1.2 innings, before Braun came into throw a scoreless sixth in relief.

The loss closes a strong season for the Bearcats. Picked to finish sixth in the PAC preseason coaches poll, the Bearcats instead qualified for the PAC tournament as the No. 4 seed, advancing to its final day. The season included a program-record 13-game winning streak, while SVC's 24 wins are tied for the second most in a season in team history.