The Beloit College softball lost a heartbreaker on a walkoff hit in the bottom of the seventh in game one and outhit the Pioneers but dropped the nightcap on a sunny but windy day in Platteville Tuesday. The Buccaneers were ahead 3-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh before falling 4-3 in the opener and dropped the second game of the twinbill 5-1.
The Bucs' bats were working from the get-go in game one as Callie Dutton led off the game with a cue shot that fell in and stayed in fair territory for the base knock. She moved to second on Madi Christine's sacrifice bunt. With two away, Ashley Lambert connected for a two-run homer that got up and out of the park quickly to give Beloit the early 2-1 lead.
A walk led to the Pioneers first run of the game in the bottom half of the inning as an RBI double narrowed the gap to 2-1.
The Buccaneer hitters got choosy in the third and their patience in the batter's box led to another run. Christine led off the inning with a walk and swiped second. Emily Stapay got the win on a full count with a base on balls and Lambert made it three straight walks to load the bases. Kat Grzeszkiewicz put the ball in play and the Pioneer infielder fielded and tossed home but the throw wasn't handled by the catcher as the speedy Christine bolted home for the score to make it 3-1.
That score held until the bottom of the seventh. A blooper into short center field led off the inning and a bunt single followed. A couple of walks and a couple of hits spelled the end of the game in walkoff, heartbreaking fashion for the Bucs.
Dutton led the Bucs at the plate with two of the team's four hits in the game and a run scored.
Alyssa Morris had a great outing in the circle allowed just two earned runs while scattering six hits over six innings of work. Alyssa Boltik suffered the loss in two-third of an inning of relief.
The Bucs outhit UW-P 5-4 in the nightcap but were unable to push across any runs after the first inning in the loss. Dutton led off the game with a single to the shortstop and swiped second. She traded placed with Stapay on her double to left center for the first score of the game.
The defenses for each team made a number of fantastic plays in the second game but Platteville was able to find the timely hits.
Boltik took the loss after a complete game in the circle allowing three earned runs on four hits.
Beloit returns to Midwest Conference action this weekend with road games at Monmouth Saturday and at Grinnell Sunday. Both doubleheaders are scheduled for 1 p.m. starts.
