Softball Splits on Opening Day

LEESBURG, Fla. – The Mitchell College softball team opened the 2022 season with a Saturday split at The Spring Games, falling 10-9 in eight innings against Ursinus College before rebounding for an 8-0 win over Finlandia University in five.

Hannah Lemke collected five hits over the two games while Alex Lopez, Jenna Bennett and Emily Reynolds tallied four apiece. Lopez knocked in six runs on the day while Bennett plated four, and Reynolds also picked up her first career win in the circle.

Mitchell (1-1 overall) returns to action on Sunday, March 6 with games against Dominican University and Mount Mary University at The Spring Games.

Game 1 – Ursinus 10, Mitchell 9 (8 innings)

Mitchell jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to a sacrifice fly in the second inning by Sydney Oatway and an RBI single by Lopez in the third. Ursinus countered with three runs in the third to take the lead before buffering the margin to 4-2 in the fourth.

A three-run fifth inning put the Mariners back on top. Reynolds knocked in the first run with an infield single, and Bennett followed with a two-run single up the middle to make it 5-4 in Mitchell's favor.

After the Bears tied the game with a run in the sixth, Bennett knocked in the go-ahead run in the seventh to put the Mariners up 6-5. In the home half of the frame, Mitchell was one out away from closing out the win, but Ursinus squeaked across the tying run with an infield single.

In extra innings, a single by Madison Nicynski put the Mariners back on top once again. Later, a two-run single by Lopez extended Mitchell's lead to 9-6.

The Bears scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth to pull out the win, all with two outs. A two-run single by Amanda Pinati cut Mitchell's lead to one, and two batters later Julia Eckels ended the game with a two-run, walk-off double.

Game 2 – Mitchell 8, Finlandia 0 (5 innings)

Mitchell took out its frustrations from the first game on Finlandia, putting up crooked numbers in every inning but the third while totaling 11 hits. Reynolds, making her collegiate debut in the circle, allowed only three hits over 5.0 scoreless innings and struck out four.

An RBI single by Lopez gave the Mariners the only run they would need in the first inning. Mitchell plated four more runs in the second, highlighted by RBI singles from Lemke, Gemma Landry and Lopez.

A ground out by Oatway made it 6-0 in the fourth. Mitchell then tacked on two runs in the fifth to end the game early via the eight-run mercy rule. Bennett knocked in the final run with a bases-loaded single.