KISSIMMEE, Fla. - The Saint Mary's softball team fell by an 8-0 (6 innings) margin to Montclair State in the opener and was on the wrong side of a 9-3 final against Pitt.-Greensburg on Monday on day two of The Spring Games.

 

In the top of the second inning against Montclair State, McKenna Myers made a diving snag in shallow center field to lock down the Red Hawks early. The senior then laced a one-out double to right field in the bottom half of the inning and tagged up to third on a fly out, but the Belles were unable to strike first as an infield ground out ended the chance.

 

Montclair State plated two two-out runs in the third inning to take the lead. Saint Mary's had another chance in the bottom half of the inning. McKenna Shoupe hit a two-out single to left field before a two-out single to right field by Alexis Rauch put runners on the corners. A wild pitch moved Rauch into scoring position. Another infield ground out, however, shut down the chance for the Belles.

 

The Red Hawks plated a run in the fourth and added four in the fifth to gain a 7-0 lead. The Belles got a runner into scoring position in the bottom of the fifth. Madi Ingolia hit a one-out single to right field, and McKenna Shoupe used a sacrifice bunt to move the freshman to second. A fly out to right field was corralled by Montclair State though as the Belles left Ingolia on second. 

 

Montclair State posted an unearned run in the top of the sixth to go ahead by eight runs. Needing at least one run to keep the game alive, Caitlin Traxler led off the bottom of the sixth with a double to left-center field. Two batters later, the Redhawks used a line drive double play to stop the scoring chance and end the game by the 8-0 margin.

 

Caitlin Traxler and McKenna Myers paced a pack of six players with one hit apiece as the pair each laced a double in the game. McKenna Shoupe, Alexis Rauch, Libby Bierbaum, Rylee Hershberger, and Madi Ingolia each added a hit. Bierbaum suffered the pitching loss in the circle after going 4.1 innings with a pair of strikeouts. Mary Charniak closed out the final 1.2 innings and added a strikeout with no walks.

 

In the second game of the day, Pittsburgh-Greensburg plated a run in both the first and second innings to snag an early 2-0 lead. The Belles put together a solid offensive effort in the top of the third. Mary Charniak led off with a single, and Leah Zimmerman drew a walk. McKenna Shoupe beat out a bunt for a single to load the bases. Alexis Rauch used a sacrifice fly to drive in Charniak while Zimmerman tagged up to third on the play. Shoupe then swiped the open base during Caitlin Traxler's at-bat before Traxler reached on a throwing error by the pitcher which led to the first baseman needing to jump to catch the throw while being taken off the bag in the process. That play drove in Zimmerman easily to pull Saint Mary's even. Libby Bierbaum then got enough on a fly ball to left field to drive in Shoupe with a sacrifice as the Belles went ahead 3-2.

 

The Panthers, however, used a big third inning to plate five runs on a pair of hits and a trio of errors as Pitt.-Greensburg regained the lead by a 7-3 score through three.

 

Mary Charniak, Caitlin Traxler, and Rylee Hershberger each hit a single in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings, respectively. Each inning, however, the Belles were unable to string together multiple hits during play. The Panthers added a run in the fourth and another in the fifth to gain a 9-3 advantage going into the seventh inning. Charniak picked up another hit after beating out an infield single to shortstop to start the inning. McKenna Shoupe used a bunt to move Charniak to second, but the freshman was unable to advance any further as a pop up ended the game 9-3.

 

Mary Charniak led the way at the plate in game two with a 3-for-3 effort while scoring a run. Caitlin Traxler added a 2-for-3 showing at the dish with an RBI. McKenna Shoupe had a hit and scored a run, and Rylee Hershberger added a hit. Leah Zimmerman drew a walk and scored a run while Alexis Rauch and Libby Bierbaum each used a sacrifice fly to drive in a run. Sam Mikitka shouldered the pitching loss after two-plus innings. Mary Charniak added her second relief showing of the day by going the final four-plus innings in the circle for the Belles.

 

Saint Mary's (0-4) takes on Curry and McMurry on Tuesday, March 12 at the Sleepy Hollow Complex in Leesburg, Florida. Game one against Curry is slated to begin at 10:00 a.m.