April 16 – BETHANY, W. Va. – The Bethany College softball team dropped a pair of non-conference decisions to Ohio Athletic Conference foe, Capital University, on Thursday afternoon. The Bison dropped the first game, 12-5, before falling 9-0 in game two.
The Crusaders opened the scoring in game one, as the third batter of the contest, LeAnna Cotton, homered to deep left field, giving Capital a 1-0 lead after one.
The Bison responded in the bottom of the third inning with a run of their own. Jessica Kusnierz (New Castle, Pa./New Castle) led off the inning with a single up the middle and was moved to second on an error. Following the error, runners were then advanced to second and third on a groundout. Deanna Mihalco (Patterson, N.Y./Brewster) then brought Kusnierz home with a RBI groundout to knot the game at 1-1.
Capital retook the lead in the top of the fourth inning, as the long ball once again played a factor. The Crusaders were beneficiaries of two home runs in the inning, one from Maura Rose, the other hit by Therese Becker. Both homers were of the solo variety, and the latter gave Capital a 3-1 lead.
The visitors would add three more runs in the top of the sixth inning to open the lead to a 6-1 advantage. Bethany, however, would respond in the bottom half of the sixth inning. Kayla Kelly (Pasadena, Md./Institute of Notre Dame) led off the inning with a base hit up the middle and quickly stole second to put herself into scoring position.
After a walk was issued to Mihalco, Emili Garretson (Winfield, W.Va./Winfield) moved the runners over with a groundout. Sophomore Sarah Coss (Bowie, Md./Bishop McNamara) then drove in her first RBI of the game, scoring Kelly on the play. The next batter was Marissa Bosley (New Martinsville, W.Va./Magnolia), who roped a RBI single to right field, scoring Mihalco to cut the Capital lead to 6-3.
Capital would once again extend the advantage, striking for six runs on four hits in the top of the seventh inning to open the lead to 12-3. The Bison would then round out the scoring in the home half of the seventh as Kelly hammered a two-run homer to right field to finish the scoring at 12-5. The home run marked the third of the season for Kelly, tying Mihalco for the team lead.
Offensively in the game both Kelly and Bosley tallied two hits, while Kelly posted a pair of RBI. Mihalco, Coss and Bosley all added one RBI each.
In game number two, the Bison were held out of the hit column until the fourth inning, eventually falling by a 9-0 score.
Capital posted singular runs in the first three innings of the game before totaling three runs in each the fourth and sixth innings.
Offensively, the two hits from the Bison came from Garretson and Coss in the fourth inning of the action.
The Bison will be back in action on Saturday, April 18, when they get back to Presidents' Athletic Conference play against Thomas More College. The doubleheader in Crestview Hills, Kentucky is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start.
