LATROBE, Pa. (April 21) – The Saint Vincent softball team split a home doubleheader with Waynesburg University, winning 3-0 in the opener behind a complete game gem from
Haley Bicko, before stranding 10 runners on base in suffering a 4-0 loss in the nightcap.
With the split, both the Bearcats' and Yellow Jackets' PAC records move to 12-4, while SVC moves to 22-10 overall on the season and Waynesburg 23-7.
GAME ONE – Saint Vincent 3, Waynesburg 0
Behind a career afternoon in the circle by Bicko, the Bearcats started the day with a 3-0 victory in a game that lasted a brisk 78 minutes.
Bicko improved to 8-3 on the season after throwing a complete-game, three-hit shutout, striking out five and issuing zero walks. The junior needed just 90 pitches to complete the contest in which she faced just three batters over the minimum.
Bicko and Waynesburg starter Sydney Wilson engaged in a classic pitcher's duel, as the two teams combined for just four base runners over the first four and a half innings.
Allie Prady opened the bottom of the fifth with a sharp single to right center, and promptly moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Bicko. After
Katelyn Stokan singled to put runners at the corners,
Katie Lampe came through with an RBI single to left field to give the Bearcats the first run of the game.
Bicko fired another 1-2-3 frame in the top of the sixth, and the Bearcat bats went back to work in the bottom half.
Alex Dillner led off with a single to left, and
Nicolette Kloes followed by laying down a bunt, on which the throw sailed wide of first base, allowing Dillner to take third.
Leah Yoder then singled to center to bring home Dillner and make it 2-0, before Bicko again helped her cause with an RBI single to center field to give the Bearcats a three-run lead.
Bicko pitched around a two-out single in the ninth to close out the complete game win.
SVC out-hit Waynesburg 7-3, with seven different players accounting for the Bearcat hits.
GAME TWO – Waynesburg 4, Saint Vincent 0
In the nightcap, the Bearcats produced eight hits, but stranded 10 runners on base, while Waynesburg broke open a one-run game by scoring three runs over the final two frames.
The Yellow Jackets plated the game's first run in the top of the first, when leadoff hitter Brinn Hunter reached on a strikeout/wild pitch, moved to second on a bunt, took third on a hit batter and scored on a sacrifice fly. SVC starter
Olivia Bushore would recover to strand a pair of runners with an inning-ending strikeout.
In a precursor for the rest of the game, Dillner smacked a two-out double in the bottom of the first but was left stranded, before Prady doubled with one out in the bottom of the second, only to be stranded at third when the inning came to a close.
Bushore pitched around a pair of singles to throw a scoreless top of the third, and the Bearcats would again come up empty after putting a pair of runners on in the bottom half, with Lampe reaching on a bunt single and
Jessica LaPorte drawing a one-out walk.
The SVC defense came up big in the top of the fourth to keep the deficit at one, with the centerfielder Yoder, the shortstop
Olivia Persin and the third baseman Lampe teaming up for a picture-perfect 8-6-5 relay to cut down a Waynesburg attempt at a triple for the inning's first out, and second baseman Bicko gunning down a Waynesburg runner attempting to go from first to third on a bunt single for the second out.
The Bearcat offense would strand two runners on base in both the bottom of the fourth and bottom of the fifth, and Waynesburg took advantage, adding on one run on a pair of doubles in the top of the sixth, and two runs on three hits in the top of the seventh.
SVC looked to mount one last rally, with the bottom of the seventh opening with singles by Lampe and Persin, but Waynesburg starter Autumn Stemple would get three straight popups to close out the complete game.
Lampe went 2-for-3 and Dillner 2-for-4 to pace the SVC offense, while Bushore was saddled with the complete game loss, allowing four runs on 12 hits, with five strikeouts and two walks.
Prior to the doubleheader, Dillner and Persin were each recognized for recording their 100th career hits, while Dillner was honored with a traditional Senior Day ceremony for her Bearcat career.
The Bearcats will return to action on Tuesday, April 25, closing out their regular season home slate with a 3:30 p.m. doubleheader against PAC rival Geneva.
