CAPE CORAL, Fla. – The Mount Saint Mary College softball team (2-4) split its doubleheader on day three of the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic Wednesday, falling to Bluffton University (6-1), 13-10, before bouncing back and defeating Clark University (2-8), 6-1.
The Beavers stormed out of the gates, scoring runs early and often. The game looked like it was headed for a five-inning mercy-rule stoppage, as Bluffton held an 8-0 lead as the Knights came up to bat in the fifth. Determined to keep the game going, the Knights then mounted a huge comeback.
Junior center fielder
Sabrina Gordek (Levittown, N.Y.) started the rally by being issued a walk. Junior left fielder
Brianne Germain (Greenwood Lake, N.Y.) followed up with a bunt-single, moving Gordek over to second base. After senior third baseman
Danielle Soto (Miller Place, N.Y.) was hit by a pitch, senior designated player
Stephanie Karcher (Oxford, Conn.) singled in a run to get the Mount on the board. With the bases still loaded, sophomore first baseman
Michelle Surdan (Acton, Mass.) delivered a run-scoring single to make the score 8-2.
In a strategic move, coach
Jessica Mushel pinch hit freshman pitcher
Cindy Connoly (Walden, N.Y.) for sophomore shortstop
Breanna DePasquale (Brooklyn, N.Y.), and the switch proved to be the correct move, as Connoly singled home two more runs, cutting the deficit to 8-4. The game got even closer when freshman catcher
Jessica Menna (Middle Village, N.Y.) and Gordek both recorded RBI singles to end the fifth inning rally with the score now standing at 8-6.
The Beavers responded in the bottom half of the fifth inning when Josie McElroy hit a pinch-hit solo home run to lead off the inning. After an error by the second basemen led to another run, third baseman Jess Kuzara singled to left to score the 11th run of the game for Bluffton.
The Knights rallied once again in the top half of the sixth inning. Surdan started the scoring by reaching on a fielder's choice and scoring sophomore second baseman
Shannon Sommer (Brewster, N.Y.). Menna followed up with a clutch two-RBI single to get the Knights back within two. Mushel once again turned to the bench, pinch hitting freshman
Chelsea Dexter (Beacon, N.Y.) for Gordek. Dexter delivered for her coach, plating Surdan with a single through the left side to cut the Beavers' lead to one, 11-10.
Bluffton put the game out of reach in the bottom of the sixth inning, scoring two more runs to cap off the scoring for the game.
A quartet of players lead the way for Bluffton. Left fielder Makenzie Schmidt, center fielder Ashley Knippen, second baseman Brittany Baker and shortstop Brittany Huff each recorded two hits, with Schmidt and Knippen batting in two runs and scoring two more themselves. Starter Chloe Shell (3-0) earned the win for the Beavers, pitching 4.1 innings without yielding a run and allowing just one hit.
Karcher led the Knights at the plate, going 2-for-5 with one RBI and two runs. Surdan went 1-for-3 with two RBI and two runs, while Menna went 2-for-3 with three RBI. Freshman starter
Alyssa Castellani (New Hartford, Conn.) suffered her first loss of the season after pitching one inning and giving up two runs.
The Knights carried their momentum from late in the early game into the Wednesday finale. Given plenty of run support to boot, Connoly stepped up with an incredible start for the Knights, fanning 17 batters en route to improving her record to 1-1 on the season with her first collegiate win. She allowed just five hits and one run.
Soto and Karcher smacked back-to-back RBI doubles in the top of the first to give the Knights a 2-0 lead early on in the contest. In the third, Sommer managed to score on a passed ball to improve the lead to three runs.
Clark managed its only score of the game in the bottom of the fourth. Second baseman Lauren Mackey led off the inning with a single, and was then moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt. Shortstop Alyssa Wright then singled in Mackey from second to cut the deficit to two. Connoly regained her composure and struck out the next two batters to end the inning.
Karcher kept her big day going in the fifth with a single to center to bring in another run. She followed that up in her next at bat in the seventh, doubling to left-center to bring in her third RBI of the game. Freshman shortstop
Courtney Barbara (Fishkill, N.Y.) got in on the action in the seventh, scoring Karcher on a single to center to bring the lead to 6-1.
Karcher finished the game 3-for-3 with two doubles and three RBI. Soto went 2-for-3 with a double, RBI and two runs, while Sommer hit 2-for-4 with three runs scored.
Mackey went 2-for-3 with a run to lead Clark in game two. Wright knocked in the only run in a 1-for-3 outing, while Buckheit went 1-for-3 as well with a double.
Clark's Sami West went the complete seven innings, but allowed six runs (three earned) on nine hits and three walks to shoulder the loss. She struck out an impressive 10 Knight batters.
While the Mount Saint Mary College campus gets hit with more snow on Thursday, Mar. 5, the Knights will continue playing in the pleasant Florida weather. They will kick off Thursday with a 9 a.m. matchup against St. John Fisher College, and close it out with an 11 a.m. contest against Kenyon College.
Follow the Knights on Twitter at
@MSMCKnights
