Softball Splits on Third Day in Florida
CLERMONT, Fla. – The Mitchell College softball team jumped back into action and split a doubleheader in Florida on Tuesday, March 12th, taking the first game by a 2-1 final against the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg before falling to SUNY Cortland 14-6 later in the day.
The Mariners (1-5,0-0 GNAC) jump right back into action on Wednesday, March 13th, with a doubleheader against Trinity College and the College of St. Scholastica.
Game 1 – Mitchell 2, Pitt. Greensburg 1
After the two squads traded scoreless frames across the first two innings, the Mariners snapped the scoreless tie when an error by the Bobcats allowed Brooke Whitmarsh (Portsmouth, R.I.) to reach first and Gemma Landry (Lewiston, ME) to score. The Mitchell lead was short-lived, as the Bobcats answered in the top of the fourth, plating one run when Madison Stonbraker raced home on an error by the Mariners following a base hit by Madison Gardner.
A pitcher's duel from the start, Mitchell's Emily Reynolds (Somers, Conn.) and Melanie Mienke of the Bobcats each were able to tame the opposing offense, turning in matching scoreless frames in both the fifth and the sixth. Reynolds was able to retire the side in the top of the seventh, and sophomore Lola Worsdale (Stonington, Conn.) led off the bottom half of the inning with a bunt single.
Landry then pooped up, before junior Olivia DeCicco (Haverhill, Mass.) dropped down a sacrifice bunt to push Worsdale over to second. Whitmarsh then stepped up to the plate with the winning run on second and laced a base hit to right field, walking the Mariners off for their first win of the spring, while also collecting the 100th hit of her career. Whitmarsh finished the day 3-4 with an RBI, her first multi-hit game on the season.
Reynolds was dominant in the circle on the way to her first win of the spring, tossing a complete game, while allowing just one unearned run. The junior scattered just five hits, did not allow a walk, and struck out five.
With the loss, Melanie Mienke drops her record to 1-1 on the season. Mienke went the distance, surrendering eight hits and two runs (one earned), striking out three.
Game 2 – Mitchell 6, SUNY Cortland 14
Brooke Whitmarsh continued her strong day with an RBI single in the top of the first, but Cortland answered in the bottom of the frame when Tori Reich walked with the bases loaded.
Whitmarsh again put the Mariners on top in the top of the second with an RBI single, but Cortland plated five runs in the bottom of the second to pull away and not look back. The Red Dragons added four more runs in the fourth and the four more in the fifth, as McKenna Barry improved to 2-0 this spring, while Kaeli Murtagh picked up her first save.
Landry, DiCicco, and Whitmarsh all collected multiple hits, while DeCicco and Whitmarsh drove in two runs apiece.
Emily Reynolds took the loss and dropped to 1-2, while senior Hailey Hill (Griswold, Conn.) was charged with nine runs over three and a third innings of work.