McKenzie, TN – Softball opened the MSC schedule with pair of losses at the hand of Bethel Saturday afternoon. Game one came down to a final inning 4-3 walk-off win for the Wildcats before they took a 9-4 victory in game two.
The losses put the Bears at 3-5 (0-2 MSC) in the early season ahead of tomorrows doubleheader with the Wildcats.
Game 1
Alyssa Franklin put the Bears in the opening frame of game one with a shot to left that was dropped by the center-fielder and scored Lillie and
Sophie Kluesner. Both teams went innings two through four hitless as
Mattea Ware forced several groundouts and a pair of strikeouts during the stretch.
Jamie Pollard stepped in to end the draught in the fifth frame as she tagged her lone hit. A groundout from
Katelyn Byrd advanced Pollard and the next play put her in scoring position but solid pitching from Bethel left her on base as the Bears held onto their 2-0 lead.
Bethel fired back in the fifth with a pair of hits, scoring a pair of runs to tie the game.
Carrie Boyd kicked off the sixth with a single looking to be the go-ahead run but
Alyssa Franklin grounded into a double play on the next at bat.
The seventh inning became interesting quickly, sparked by a leadoff single by Ingram before
Kendall Hillard came into pinch hit and was hit by pitch. After a strikeout,
Amber Triplett reached on a hit by pitch as well, loading the bases.
Sophie Kluesner made contact on the next pitch, forcing a scramble which led to
Zoe Ingram scoring the go-ahead run on an error.
Bethel buried UPIKE's hope quickly in the final frame, busting a leadoff homerun to tie the game before an error put the winning run on. The Wildcats walked-off with a hard hit double to end the game.
Game 2
The latter half of the double header was more dynamic offensively for the Bears who tagged seven hits.
Lillie Kluesner cracked her second hit of the day in the first inning and later scored on a bobbled grounder off the bat of Franklin.
Katelyn Mullins got the start and struck out the first batter she faced before ending the first inning three-up, three-down. Bethel took the lead in the third inning after back-to-back singles followed by a two-RBI double to make it 2-1. The Wildcats did even more damage in the fourth, connecting for four hits, scoring three runs to take a 5-1 advantage.
Ingram answered for UPIKE in the fifth, busting a two-RBI single to put the Bears within a pair of runs, she was later left on third after a solid play by the first basemen retired the inning. Bethel picked up four more in the bottom half of the inning before both teams lulled their way to the finish with no hits or runs scored in the final two innings.
The Bears go back to work tomorrow for another double-header with the Wildcats. Game one is slated for 12:00 PM and can be watched live
here.
