The Beloit College softball team won a pair of games at the Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex in Leesburg, Florida Thursday. The Buccaneers topped The Sage College 7-3 in the first game of the day and followed with an 8-7 comeback win over region foe North Park University.
The Gators struck first in the Bucs' opener plating two runs in the first frame. Beloit cut that lead in half in their end of the inning.
Alyssa Boltik was hit by pitch in the Bucs' first at bat and moved 60 feet closer after stealing second.
Madi Christine singled through the left side and advanced to second on the throw as Boltik slid in safely to third base.
Alyssa Morris dropped down a beautiful bunt and Boltik drew the attention of the defense to give Morris enough time to reach safely and load the bases.
Ashley Lambert's long fly ball was deep enough to score Boltik to narrow the gap to 2-1 after the first inning.
A three up, three down inning brought the Bucs back in for offense.
Kaitlynn Taft led off the inning with a single to center field on a hanging change up.
Makayla Zundel squared around and put the pressure on the defense with a perfectly placed bunt that caused a Gator miscue and put runners on the corners. Boltik followed suit with a drag bunt drawing the throw to first base. On the throw, Taft took off for home diving into plate headfirst safely to tie the game 2-2 but the Bucs weren't done there. Christine tagged a double to left center in the next at bat to give the Bucs a 3-2 lead.
That score held until the bottom of the fifth when Beloit added one more. Lambert singled up the middle and was replaced on the base paths by baserunning guru
Emily Clinkscales who swiped second to move into scoring position.
Maty Nowakowski singled to center field in the next at bat. Clinkscales read the liner perfectly and took off for third seeing the ball was going to fall in for a hit as Nowakowski headed to second on the late throw to third.
Callie Dutton tagged a ball to centerfield for the sacrifice fly that had Clinkscales coming in to score to make it 4-2 after five complete.
The Sage Colleges pulled to within one with a single run in the top of the sixth but Beloit had the answer. In their half of the frame, Zundel led off the inning with a single up the middle. Dani Strejc made it back-to-back singles with a shot through the left side.
Emily Stapay came up with a pinch hit walk to load the bases and was replaced by Christine at first base. Morris' single to left center moved all the runners up 60 feet. Lambert singled to center plating one more and Nowakowski drew an RBI walk to give the Bucs a 7-3 advantage.
The defense sat the Gators down in order in the top of the seventh for the win.
Christine, Lambert and Strejc each went 2-for-3 from the plate combining for three runs batted. Boltik picked up the win on the mound striking out two and scattering seven hits while allowing three runs in the complete game victory.
There was no shortage of drama in the nightcap as the contest featured two controversial calls and an incredible comeback for Beloit. The Bucs took an early lead.
Stephannie Lopez led off the game with a single to third base on a high bouncer and advanced to second on Christine's base on balls. Morris laid down a perfect but that advanced the runners into scoring position. Lopez came into home on Lambert's second sacrifice fly of the day, this one to center field.
Beloit added two more in the next inning. Dutton drew a leadoff walk and Stapay followed with a double to center field. Zundel singled to left field plating Dutton and putting runners on the corners. Strejc tagged a ball to left field that looked like it was going to sail over the left fielder's head but at the last moment she leapt backwards and made a fantastic catch with an outstretched arm. Despite the robbery, Strejc registered the RBI as Stapay tagged up at third base to give the Bucs a 3-0 lead.
North Park broke into the scoring column in the bottom of the third. A single, wild pitch, bunt single and sacrifice fly scored the first Vikings' run of the game. Two innings later, NPU claimed the lead.
The first runner was struck by the pitch and a miscue on the sacrifice bunt as the Bucs attempted to get the lead runner put two runners on. A single loaded the bases but Lopez held the Vikings at bay fielding the next ground ball and throwing to Lambert for the force at home. A sac fly brought in the first run and then a little bit of bad luck plated two more. Nowakowski was in position to field a groundball at second base when the ball took a bad hop and jumped over her into right field. With the two runs, NPU took the lead 4-3. Two consecutive singles that followed brought in another run changing the score to 5-3 in favor of the Vikings.
The Bucs pulled to within one in the top of the sixth. Dutton singled to left field and advanced to second on Stapay's walk. The Bucs put the pressure on with a bunt and as the first baseman fielded she looked to third realizing she had no chance to get Dutton, she turned to first but no one was covering the base and Zundel reached safely to load the bases. Lopez flew out to shallow left field two batters later and Dutton tagged at third booking it home. Dutton went to the backside of plate with a beautiful wrap around slide just getting her fingertips on the plate around the tag to pull Beloit to within one, 5-4.
Morgan Lippert came in for relief after a great outing by Morris in the circle. Struggling to find her rhythm, Lippert allowed a few baserunners and the Bucs made another change brining Boltik back into the circle. A double scored two but Boltik got out of the inning with a fly out and caught the next Viking batter off balance for the looking strikeout to bring up the Bucs' offense for its final opportunity chasing three runs.
Morris led off the frame with a single up the middle and Lambert followed with a single to center field.
Kat Grzeszkiewicz replaced Lambert on the base paths. Nowakowski grounded to third when the second controversial call came into play. After being involved in a play in the third where it looked like the Viking first baseman missed the base on a force out, Nowakowski's grounder in the top of the seventh had Coach
Kim Zarling meeting with the umpire once again. Morris had a big lead and took off for third on contact. As she slid into third the Viking third baseman was struggling to find the base on the fielder's choice. Zarling appealed to the home plate umpire as it seemed the defender did not get to third before Morris slid in but the call stood and the Bucs had runners on first and second with one out. A pop fly in foul territory had Beloit down to their final out, still down three. Stapay drew a huge walk to load the bases. Zundel belted a double to left center that bounced off the fence and had Grzeszkiewicz and Nowakowski coming in to score to make it 7-6. Strejc, who had been making great contact but had been robbed all game, found some green with a two-RBI single to left center that reclaimed the lead for the Bucs as Zundel and Stapay touched home. Beloit went back out on defense just three outs away from the win.
A leadoff walk put the pressure on and there was a collective gasp from the Beloit faithful as the next Viking batter hit a hard liner back up the middle that struck Boltik in the leg in the circle. Dutton quickly grabbed the ball and fired to first to register the first out of the inning. Boltik signaled she was okay to continue and forced a groundout that Nowakowski fielded easily at second for the second out of the game. With a runner on third, NPU's next batter lift a soft liner into shallow left center. Lopez went back hard and snatched up the ball with an outstretched glove to seal the win 8-7.
Zundel led the Bucs with a 3-for-4 performance in the batter's box adding three RBI and a run scored. Strejc's lone hit of the game was the game-winner as she tallied three RBI in the contest. Stapay was a perfect 2-for-2 at the plate drawing two walks and scoring twice. Lambert also posted two hits and added an RBI.
Morris got the start and no decision allowing just one earned run while scattering 11 hits over five innings of work. Boltik registered the win in relief allowing one hit in 1.2 innings to move to 4-4 on the season.
Beloit will wrap up play in the NTC Spring Games with a 10 a.m. (ET) matchup with William Paterson and a 2:30 outing against the University of New England at the Diamondplex in Winter Haven.
