HICKORY, N.C. – The Mercyhurst softball team dropped a pair of games Sunday afternoon at Bears Field. The Lakers would fall to Lenoir-Rhyne, 12-0, in five innings and lost a 4-2 decision to Lees-McRae. Their record stands at 1-3 to conclude the weekend.
Down early, 9-0, after two innings, Mercyhurst continued to battle. A clean top of third, pitched by
Heather Nye, brought up
Rachel DiBartolomeo in the bottom half of the inning. With two outs, Dibartolomeo singled and then, stole second.
Allison Yule would follow with a single to center field, bringing around DiBartolomeo to score but was gunned down out at the plate to end the inning. Nye received the loss, moving her record to 1-1, while Brandi Hole (3-0) earned the win for Bears.
In game two, DiBartolomeo drew a walk to begin the game, and then, proceeded to steal second. Yule also drew a walk, to put runners on first and second with no outs.
Becky Malaga was hit by a pitch, loading the bases for
Kayla Larson. Larson singled up the middle to score DiBartolomeo, but the Lakers would strand three runners after
Taylor Jezuit and
Annie Truelove both struck out swinging.
Tawny Godin ended the inning, grounding out to the pitcher.
Lees-McRae would strike in the bottom of the third, scoring four runs on two hits. The Bobcats would take a 4-1 lead going into the top of the fourth.
Mercyhurst would record three hits in the top of the fifth to put a threat on the Bobcat lead. After getting on base from a fielder's choice, Jezuit would reach scoring position on a wild pitch. Truelove would cut the deficit in half, when she singled up the middle to score Jezuit from second.
The Lakers were unable to put any pressure on the Bobcats in the sixth and seventh, as they dropped their second game of the afternoon. Mercyhurst stranded 10 base runners for the game.
Truelove received the loss, bringing her record to 0-2 on the year. She let up four hits, struck out two, walked two and let up two earned runs. Taylor Billings earned the win, pitching all seven innings. Billings let up six hits, struck out four, walked four and let up two earned runs. She is now 1-2 on the season.
The Mercyhurst softball team will be back in action Friday, February 20, when they take on two Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division opponents, East Stroudsburg and Kutztown, in the Tusculum Tournament. The Lakers will face East Stroudsburg at 10:00 a.m. and Kutztown at 12:00 p.m. in Greeneville, Tennessee.
