May 2 – BETHANY, W. Va. – Seeking the program's 14th Presidents' Athletic Conference Championship, the Bethany College softball team came up just short in the PAC Championship Tournament, splitting a pair of games on Saturday afternoon. The Bison staved off elimination with a 3-1 victory over St. Vincent in game one, before falling to Thomas More College, 2-1, in the championship round.
In the same fashion as Friday afternoon, the Bison continued to receive yeoman's work from the pitching staff against the Bearcats. Just as in their opening-round performance, the Bison held the Bearcats to just a singular run as senior Kelsey Bish was brilliant in the circle.
The Bison got on the board first in the home half of the third inning as the team struck for three-consecutive hits. Jessica Kusnierz (New Castle, Pa./Shenango) posted the first hit, and was moved to second on a single by Ashlee Brill (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster). The next batter was Kayla Kelly (Pasadena, Md./Institute of Notre Dame), who singled up the middle to give the Green & White a 1-0 lead.
Not to be deterred, the Bearcats finally broke through in the top of the fourth against Bish, using small ball to tie the game. Shelbey Noel led off the frame with a single and was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Emily Duerr. Samantha Emert, the pitcher of record in the contest, then helped her own cause, singling home Noel to tie the game at 1-1.
Bethany would once again re-take the advantage, this time for good, in the home half of the fifth inning. It was once again the top of the order that got things started for the hosts. Kusnierz singled through the right side of the infield and was moved over on a bunt single from Brill. Kelly then benefited from and error on the St. Vincent shortstop, loading the bases for Emili Garretson (Winfield, W. Va./Winfield). The senior third baseman blooped a two-out single to center, scoring both Kusnierz and Bish to give the Bison a 3-1 lead.
Bish needed six outs to get the Bison through to the championship round, and the senior came through in the clutch, retiring six of the last seven batters she faced, including getting the Bearcats in order in the seventh to give Bethany the 3-1 win.
The win over the Bearcats marked the fourth of the season for the Bison, who had swept St. Vincent in a regular season doubleheader less than two weeks ago. In three of the four games, the Bison pitching staff held the Bearcats, the league's most potent offense, to just one run.
Bish was dominate in the circle, throwing a complete game while allowing just six hits over seven total innings. She also struck out four batters in the game while walking just one.
With the win, the Bison moved on to play Thomas More College in the championship round. A 5-2 loss to the Saints on Friday meant that the Green & White would need to get two victories over the Saints to capture the Championship. Once again, Bethany found itself in a pitchers dual, coming up on the short end of a 2-1 decision.
Bethany's Cassie Weiss (Washington, Pa./McGuffey) and Thomas More's Mamee Salzer both brought their "A" game in the contest as the two combined to allow just three six hits on the day.
The difference maker in the contest came in the top of the second inning. Two batters after Sammy Sagers reached on a fielding error, the Saints' Stacy Stewart connected on a two-out, two-run home run to left-center field, giving the second-seeded Saints a 2-0 lead.
Both pitchers would settle in after that, allowing just three hits combined until the bottom of the sixth inning. In the home half of the sixth, the Bison would finally break through against Salzer. Kayla Kelly once again reached on an error and was immediately moved to third on a deep single by Deanna Mihalco (Patterson, N.Y./Brewster), putting runners at the corners with one out. Bethany then scored a run on a RBI groundout from Garretson, cutting the Thomas More lead to 2-1.
The Saints threatened to expand the lead in the top of the seventh, but a solid relief appearance by Bish closed the door on that, keeping the game at 2-1. Bish came on with a runner on and no outs in the frame, retiring three of the next four batters to preserve the one-run game.
The Bison would take one more crack at Salzer in the bottom of the seventh inning. However, with a runner on first and two outs in the frame, a strikeout and a base-running error by the Bison gave the Saints the victory, handing the Green & White the hard-luck loss.
Over the span of the two games, Garretson provided the spark on the day, driving in three of the team's four runs.
Weiss pitched well in the loss, totaling six innings on the mound while allowing three hits and just one earned run while striking out six.
In the span of the four games in the conference tournament, the combination of Weiss and Bish on the mound was a high point for the Bison. The freshman/senior tandem combined to throw all 28 innings for the Green & White in the Tournament, allowing just four earned runs.
In four games the duo allowed just 17 hits while striking out 26 batters. On average the pair went seven full innings allowing 4.5 hits, one earned run and posting 6.5 strikeouts per game.
For their efforts, three Bison were named to the PAC All-Tournament Team, including Weiss, Kusnierz and Kayla Kelly.
The Green & White finish the 2015 season with a 24-16 record and will wait to see if they have earned a spot in a Eastern College Athletic Conference Regional Championship Tournament, which would take place next week.
