Pitcher
Maddy Pfortmiller wrote her name in the history books as the Beloit College softball team swept Lawrence Tuesday afternoon. The junior righty struck out 15 to break the program record for strikeouts in a game and lead the Buccaneers to a 4-3 comeback win. Beloit followed with a 15-7, five-inning, victory for the sweep.
The opener of the twinbill was exciting from start to finish. The Vikings took an early lead putting together a string of flare singles that just cleared the infield to plate a single run in the top of the first.
From there, a pitchers' duel ensued. Pfortmiller struck out the side in the top of the second, the fourth, and the fifth. The Buc offense had runners on in five of the first six innings but couldn't push the tying run across.
In the top of the seventh, Lawrence added to their lead. A pair of doubles and a single saw two Vikings cross the plate in the frame to give LU a 3-0 advantage heading into the bottom of the seventh.
Ella Diers opened the Bucs' half of the inning reaching on a strike three wild pitch and advanced to second on
Amanda Langford's walk.
Zoe Landolt took over for Langford on the basepaths.
Isabel Johnson singled to left center to load the bases for the top of the order.
Cora Aubert found some green in right field that allowed Diers to score easily and had Landolt coming hard into the plate. Aubert took a big round a first with the throw home and the Viking catcher caught her in between the two bases causing a rundown. A Lawrence miscue during the rundown between first and second allowed Johnson to score and Aubert to go all the way to third. Now, with the score knotted 3-3, the Bucs had the game-winning run just 60 feet away and no outs.
Briana Arteaga put the ball in play and a Viking error saw Aubert touching home safely for the walkoff 4-3 win.
Maddie Moser led Beloit at the plate going 2-3. Aubert was 1-4 with two runs batted in and the game-winning run scored.
Pfortmiller tossed a complete game gem to improve to 3-1 on the season. She scattered 10 hits across seven innings striking out a school record 15 without issuing a single walk. Pfortmiller's strike percentage neared 80-percent as she struck out almost half of the batters that stepped into the box in the contest.
The Buccaneers completed the sweep with a shortened game victory in the nightcap. Beloit used a nine-run third and six-run fourth to secure the win. Aubert went 2-3 with two RBI and a run scored to lead the Bucs in game two.
Aubert also picked up the win in the circle. The righty struck out five and walked two while allowing just three hits in 3.1 innings of work.
