May 1 – BETHANY, W. Va. – On a day that was highlighted by solid pitching performances from the Bison staff, the Bethany College softball team moved on to the second day of the Presidents' Athletic Conference Championship Tournament by earning a split in their first two games. The Bison won a pitching dual in game one, defeating Saint Vincent College, 2-1, before falling in their second contest of the day, 5-2, to Thomas More College.
In game one, freshman pitcher Cassie Weiss (Washington, Pa./McGuffey) worked what was perhaps her best performance of the year, posting a career-high in strikeouts while helping the Green & White to a 2-1 victory over the fourth-seeded Bearcats of St. Vincent.
Despite surrendering baserunners in six of the seven innings in the game, Weiss allowed just one runner to come around and score as she stranded 11 Bearcats over the course of the contest.
Saint Vincent's only run came in the top of the first inning, as Weiss worked her way into a jam by walking two of the first three batters she faced. Emily Duerr provided the lone hit of the inning, singling home Sarah Swettlen for the game's first run, putting the Bison behind 1-0.
The Bearcats would once again put runners in scoring position in both the second and third innings. However, Weiss stranded a pair in the second, and struck out the final two batters she faced in the third to keep Saint Vincent off the scoreboard.
The Bison would make their move in the home half of the third, compiling all of their offense with one swing of the bat. After an out, Kayla Kelly (Pasadena, Md./Institute of Notre Dame) earned a bases-empty walk to put herself on first. Two pitches later, Kelly was standing on second after her conference-leading 14th stolen base of the season. Three pitches later, looking at a full count, junior Deanna Mihalco (Patterson, N.Y./Brewster) knocked home a pair, crushing a 3-2 pitch over the left-center field fence for a two-run homer, giving Bethany a 2-1 lead.
After gaining the advantage, Weiss, who had settled in entirely in the contest, allowed just one more hit over the final four innings of work, which included retiring the Bearcats in order in the seventh to preserve the 2-1 victory for the Green & White.
During the course of the final four innings, Weiss struck out two batters in each the fourth, fifth and sixth frames, giving her a career-high 11 strikeouts on the season. Not only was the 11 Ks a career-high for the freshman, but it marked the most by a Bison in any game this season.
In game two, the Bison once again received a solid pitching performance, this time from senior Kelsey Bish (Landisville, Pa./Hempfield). However, this time the Bison found themselves on the wrong side of the pitchers dual as they fell to Thomas More, 5-2.
The Saints opened the scoring in the third inning as they struck for three unearned runs after a throwing error by Bish allowed the first run to score. Two batters later, Dallis Knots snuck a single through the right side of the infield, scoring two to give the Saints a 3-0 lead.
Bish's only earned run of the affair came in the fourth inning as the Saints posted back-to-back doubles to extend the advantage to 4-0.
The Bison would finally break through in the home half of the fifth inning off of Thomas More's Mamee Salzar. After a single by Kadie Kelly (Royal Oak, Md./St. Michaels) put runners on first and second with just one out, Jessica Kusnierz beat out what would have been a double play ball. An errant throw by the Saints' second baseman on the turn allowed Solomon to score to cut the lead to 4-1.
Bethany would return the favor, however, as a miss throw by the Bison in the top of the sixth inning put the Saints back up by four runs, 5-1.
The Green & White would add one more run in the bottom of the sixth thanks to a two-out RBI double from catcher Marissa Bosley (New Martinsville, W. Va./Magnolia). The RBI hit cut the score to 5-2, but that is as close as Bethany would get, falling in the contest by the same score.
In the circle, Bish pitched well, giving up just four hits and one earned run while striking out five. Both pitchers were on their game in the contest as she and Salzar combined to allow just nine hits in the contest.
Offensively in the second game, Bosley led the way, tallying a two-hit night while driving in the Bison's lone RBI. Taylor Solomon (Beltsville, Md./Elizabeth Seaton) added a hit while scoring a run, while Kusnierz and Kadie Kelly each posted one hit.
Despite the loss, the Bison move on to the second day of the Presidents' Athletic Conference Championship Tournament where they will see Saint Vincent for a second time. This time the two will meet in an elimination round for a chance to play Thomas More for the title. Saint Vincent already staved off elimination once during the day, defeating Washington & Jefferson 5-2 in the first elimination game of the tournament.
The contest between the Bison and Bearcats will begin at 11 a.m. with the championship round to follow at 1 p.m. Fans can once again catch the action on a live video stream from www.pacsream.net or by following the live statistics, here.
