WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (March 9) – Behind a complete game gem from freshman
Kiley Meek, the Saint Vincent softball team salvaged a split on its final day at The Spring Games with a 1-0, 8-inning victory over Wheaton (Ill.).
Alex Dillner drove in the game's only run on a pinch hit, RBI single to center to end the game in the bottom of the ninth inning and give Meek her second complete game victory on the week.
The reining Presidents' Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week, Meek threw eight scoreless innings and allowed just six hits and one walk, while picking up one strikeout, in the 88-pitch masterpiece that spanned a tidy 84 minutes.
Wheaton hurler Alese Antonello was also masterful, surrendering just four hits and one walk in 7 1/3 innings of work in the hard-luck loss.
Dillner's walk-off winner in the bottom of the eighth was made possible after a great escape by Meek and the Bearcat defense in the top half of the inning.
With the international tiebreaker rule in effect, Meek began the frame with a runner on second. She would then hit the leadoff batter before allowing a seeing-eye single through the left side to load the bases. The next batter hit a sharp grounder to shortstop
Olivia Persin, who cut the lead runner out at the plate for the first out. With the bases still loaded, the next batter hit a towering popup toward the mound and was ruled out by way of the infield fly rule. The ball, however, was not caught cleanly, and the runner on third scampered toward home. Catcher
Nicolette Kloes then alertly retrieved the ball and tagged the runner as she neared the plate to end the inning.
Lily Rush was then placed on second to begin SVC's half of the eighth, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from
Katie Lampe, and scored on Dillner's single to center to end the game.
Prior to the eighth inning, the two teams combined for only eight hits, while only five runners reached scoring position. SVC's best scoring chance came in the bottom of the fifth, when
Leah Yoder led off with a single, moved to second on a Rush bunt and advanced to third on a groundout, but was stranded after an inning-ending strikeout.
The Thunder then looked to put together a two-out rally in the top of the sixth, with a single and walk putting a pair of runners on board, but Meek got a ground ball to escape the threat.
SVC's four hits were recorded by four different players, as
Allie Prady, Kloes, Yoder and Dillner each singled.
In Saint Vincent's first game of the day, the Bearcats were defeated 9-0 by Dominican College in five innings.
The Stars took a 1-0 lead with an unearned run in the bottom of the first, before scoring four runs in both the third and fourth innings to put the game out of reach.
The SVC defense struggled in the loss, committing three errors that directly led to four unearned runs.
The Bearcats were limited to just three hits, with singles from Persin, Prady and
Emma Torretti.
Olivia Bushore started and worked the first 3 1/3 innings, allowing five earned runs while striking out six.
The Bearcats will now return north and are scheduled to open up their home slate on Tuesday, March 14, with a 3 p.m. doubleheader against Penn State-DuBois in Latrobe.
