The Beloit College softball team opened competition in The Spring Games with a thrilling eight-inning, 11-10 win over Westfield State Sunday before falling to SUNY Potsdam 9-7 in the squad's second game of the day.
The first six innings of the opener Sunday was a chess match. The Owls struck first with a homerun in the top of the first and added a second run in the top of the fourth. The Buccaneers came back with a single run in the bottom of the fourth and then knotted the game in the bottom of the sixth, 2-2, before the offenses exploded.
A three-run blast for Westfield State in the top of the seventh gave the Owls the lead and a cushion but Beloit was up to the task. The Bucs got out of the inning with two groundouts and a pop out to get back to the bats.
Dani Strejc led off the frame with a double to right center.
Maty Nowakowski followed suit trading places with Strejc on an RBI double in the gap to left.
Stephannie Lopez made it back-to-back-to-back doubles with a shot to left field. The high fly ball took the fielder back to the warning track and near the wall with the wind possibly playing a factor not allowing pinch runner
Zoe Landolt to advance to third but Landolt would score in the next at bat. A wild pitch sent the ball careening off the backstop and saw Landolt diving into home for the score to pull Beloit to within one, 5-4, with Lopez standing 60 feet away from home.
Alyssa Morris came in for the clutch pinch hit opportunity laying down a perfect bunt to score Lopez and knot the game 5-5.
The offenses continued to roll in the top of the eighth aided by the international tie breaker rule that put the last out from the previous inning at second base to open each frame. The Owls scored five on five hits to swing the momentum but the Bucs weren't done.
In the bottom half of the frame,
Makayla Zundel was placed on second for Beloit courtesy of the international tie breaker. Following a fly out, Strejc tagged a single to center field putting runners on the corners. Nowakowski put the pressure on the defense and an Owl miscue brought Zundel in to score and had runners on first and second. Lopez followed with an RBI single to right field to again put runners on the corners. Fans may have been feeling a little deja vu as
Bre Noack put the ball in play and another Westfield State error brought in a run to make it 10-8.
Maddie Moser connected on a double to right center to plate Lopez and pull the Bucs to within one.
Kaitlynn Taft notched the game winner with single to left field that brought in Noack easily and had Moser sliding into home safely for the extra inning, 11-10 victory.
Beloit blasted 16 hits in the game bolstered by multi-hit performances from six Bucs including three from Taft.
Maddy Pfortmiller registered a fantastic outing in the circle going the distance and fanning six to improve to 2-1 on the season.
The Buc bats continued to remain hot to open game two. Beloit plated two runs on one hit in the first and added four runs in the top of the second bolstered by two hits and three Bear miscues to take a 6-0 lead.
The momentum shifted mightily in the bottom half of the frame as SUNY Potsdam plated four runs on four hits to pull to within two, 6-4, and the Buc bats suddenly went cold.
The Bears added three runs in the bottom of the third and two in the fourth to claim a 9-6 advantage.
The Bucs came back with a run on three hits in the top of the sixth but SUNY Potsdam held on for the win.
Madi Christine and
Emily Stapay led the Bucs offensively with two hits each in game two.
Cora Aubert suffered the loss in the circle while Zundel saw action on the mound in relief.
Beloit continues play in The Spring Games in Clermont, Florida Monday with a pair of games. The Bucs will face Heidelberg at 11:15 followed by Bethany College at 1:30 at the Minneola Athletic Complex in Minneola.
