LATROBE, Pa. (April 25) – Despite mountint a pair of late rallies, the Saint Vincent softball team dropped both ends of a home doubleheader against Presidents' Athletic Conference foe Geneva College, falling 5-3 in game one and 6-5 in the nightcap.
After the sweep, SVC falls to 22-12 overall and 12-6 in the PAC, the same conference mark as Geneva, which improved to 19-15 overall.
GAME ONE: Geneva 5, Saint Vincent 3
The Bearcats out-hit the Golden Tornadoes 10-7 in the opener, but were unable to come up with timely hits, stranding nine runners on base.
Saint Vincent took the day's first lead in the bottom of the first, as
Olivia Persin singled to lead off, moved to second on a
Jessica LaPorte sacrifice bunt, and scored on a
Nicolette Kloes single to left field.
The Golden Tornadoes came right back to tie the game in the top of the second, using back-to-back doubles to plate their first run, before the visitors manufactured a run in the top of the third, using a walk, stolen base, infield single and sacrifice fly to go up 2-1.
The Bearcats looked to rally in the bottom of the fourth, with
Allie Prady and
Haley Bicko each smacking two-out singles, but both runners remained stranded. The Golden Tornadoes would then plate three runs on three hits and a walk in the top of the fifth to take a 5-1 advantage.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Bearcats had another prime chance to cut into the deficit, loading the bases after a LaPorte single and walks to
Alex Dillner and Kloes, but again, the Golden Tornadoes escaped the jam, ending the inning with a groundout to keep the bases full.
The Saint Vincent offense finally mounted a rally in the bottom of the seventh. With one out, LaPorte singled and
Alex Dillner doubled, before
Leah Yoder drove home both runs with a single over the third base bag to cut the deficit to 5-3. The Bearcats were unable to do any more damage, as Yoder was stranded at third following a game-ending groundout.
Prady, LaPorte and Bicko all went 2-for-3 at the plate for SVC, while Dillner and Kloes both reached base twice by going 1-for-3 with a walk.
Bicko started in the circle and took the loss, alloing five runs on seven hits with two strikeouts in 5.0 innings.
Kiley Meek came out of the bullpen to close the game with a pair of clean innings, with one strikeout.
GAME TWO: Geneva 6, Saint Vincent 5
As was the case in the opener, the Bearcats got on the board first in the nightcap, plating a pair of runs in the bottom of the first. Saint Vincent loaded the bases with no outs, as walks to Persin and Dillner sandwiched a LaPorte single. With one out, Yoder smacked a double to the fence to clear the bases and give the Bearcats the early 2-0 lead.
Geneva countered by scoring one run on two hits and an error in the top of the second, before using a single and two doubles to plate two more runs and take a 3-2 lead in the top of the third.
Saint Vincent would regain the lead in the bottom half of the inning, with Yoder and Prady drawing two-out walks and then scoring on a line drive single to left by Bicko to put the Bearcats in front, 4-3.
The Bearcats held on to the one-run lead until the top of the seventh, when Geneva sent eight batters to the plate and scored three runs on four hits to jump in front, 6-4.
Saint Vincent looked to mount another late rally, scoring once in the bottom of the seventh when
Lily Rush, who singled with one out, scored on a Bicko single to center to close out the day's scoring.
Seven different Saint Vincent players tallied at least one hit, with LaPorte and Bicko each going 2-for-4. Bicko drove in three of SVC's five runs.
Olivia Bushore started in the circle and worked 6.1 innings, allowing six runs (five earned) on nine hits with four strikeouts. Meek recorded the final two Geneva outs without yielding a run.
Saint Vincent will close out the 2023 regular season with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday, April 29, at Grove City. The Bearcats have locked up a spot in next week's PAC Championship Tournament, but as the top six teams in the conference are separated by just two games, seeding will not be solidified until the end of the PAC slate on Saturday.
