LATROBE, Pa. (April 26) – The Saint Vincent softball team was defeated by Grove City in both ends of its final Presidents' Athletic Conference doubleheader of the regular season.
 
In the opener, Grove City used a big first inning to cruise to a 15-1 victory, before the nightcap saw the visitors break an early tie by scoring four unanswered runs in a 6-2 win.
 
Game One: Grove City 15, Saint Vincent 1
The Wolverines jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Five of the runs were unearned after a costly one-out SVC error, while four came on one swing, a two-out grand slam by Anikka Rinehart.
 
Rinheart hit her second homer of the day, this one a two-run shot, in the top of the third to extend the lead to 8-0, before the Bearcats finally cracked the scoreboard in the home half. Kendall McConnell, Mackenzie Favero and Olivia Persin hit consecutive singles to load the bases, before Jessica LaPorte drew a free pass to score McConnell with her team's first run.
 
The Wolverines put the game away with a long top of the fourth, sending 11 batters to the plate to score seven runs on three hits and three errors to close out the game's scoring.
 
Persin had two of SVC's seven hits in the loss, while Favero had the Bearcats' lone extra-base hit with a double in the second inning. Favero, McConnell, LaPorte and Nicolette Kloes also had singles.
 
Haley Bicko started in the circle and was saddled with the loss, allowing six runs (just one earned) on five hits, with two strikeouts in two innings. She was the first of four SVC pitchers used.
 
Abigail Meadors started and earned the complete game win for the Wolverines, allowing one run on seven hits with eight Ks.
 
Game Two: Grove City 6, Saint Vincent 6
The Wolverines again got off to a hot start, scoring two runs on three hits and an error in the top of the first, but the Bearcats answered right back in the bottom half.
 
With one out, Persin walked, before LaPorte and Alyssa Henderson followed with consecutive singles to load the bases. Perigo then shot a line drive single to left center to plate Persin, before Kloes lofted a fly ball to the warning track in left field to drive home LaPorte and tie the game.
 
Grove City used a leadoff triple and a groundout to take a 3-2 lead in the top of the second. The Bearcats threatened in the bottom half, with McConnell singling and Favero drawing a walk, but the runners remained stranded as Meadors got a strikeout and groundout to escape the jam.
 
The Wolverines looked poised to add onto their lead in the top of the third, putting runners at second and third after a single and a double, but SVC reliever Olivia Bushore got out of the inning unscathed with a lineout and groundout.
 
After the Wolverines added a single run in the top of the fourth, Bushore pitched out of another hairy situation in the fifth. Grove City loaded the bases on three SVC errors, but Bushore left the bases juiced by getting an inning-ending popup.
 
The Bearcats were unable to build upon the momentum, stranding four runners on base in each of the next two innings. In the fifth, Favero and Persin hit back-to-back leadoff singles, but were unable to come around, as Persin was retired at the plate for the third out on a close play at the plate on a grounder hit by Perigo. Kloes and McConnell would then each single in the sixth inning, but an inning-ending popup quashed the rally.
 
Grove City added on with two runs in the top of the seventh, using two doubles and an error to extend its lead to 6-2. The Bearcats would then go quietly in their last at-bats, ending the game with three groundouts.
 
Seven different players recorded at least one hit for Saint Vincent, led by McConnell's 2-for-3 showing. Persin and Favero also reached base twice, each each posting a single and a walk.
 
Bushore took the loss in the circle for SVC, allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits, with one strikeout, in five innings of work. A.J. Arnal threw a scoreless inning of relief, striking out the side in the seventh.
 
Brooke Brodie earned the win for Grove City in relief of Meadors, throwing four shutout innings and allowing four hits with one strikeout.
 
The Bearcats, who sit at 17-17 overall and 9-11 in the PAC, will now wait to see if they earn a berth in next week's six-team PAC Championship Tournament. Saint Vincent currently sits in seventh place in the league, with just two games separating the fifth-through-eighth-place teams. The Bearcats' playoff fate will be determined by the results of Saturday's doubleheaders between Waynesburg/Westminster and Washington & Jefferson/Bethany.
 
Prior to the Grove City doubleheader, the Bearcat senior class of LaPorte, Persin, Bicko and Leah Yoder was recognized in an on-field ceremony. The foursome helped lead the Bearcats to 78 wins over the past four years, with trips to the PAC postseason in both 2022 and 2023.