CLERMONT, Fla. - - The Wilmington University softball team dropped a pair of games on day 10 of its 15-day Spring break trip to Clermont, Fla. The Wildcats lost 8-0 to West Virginia Wesleyan in the day's first game and dropped a 3-2 decision to Southern New Hampshire in the night cap on Monday afternoon at the National Training Center.
Errors in the field hurt the Wilmington (4-11) in both games as 10 of the 11 runs the pitching staff gave up were unearned on the day.
Danielle Griffin got the start in the first game of the day against West Virginia Wesleyan. The Wildcats defeated the Bobcats, 6-1, in their first meeting last week, but four errors led to seven unearned runs as the 'Cats fell 8-0 as the game ended with two outs and two runs on base in the bottom of the sixth.
The Bobcats would get all the runs they would need in the home half of the first as Megan Malenstyn doubled in two runners that reached on fielding errors. The Bobcats scored two more runs to take a 4-0 lead on four hits and three errors in the inning.
The Wildcats collected three hits for the game, as Brooke Berger and Kinsley Parker each went 1-for-3 with a pair of singles. Kristin Garvin picked up the last hit of the game for the Wildcats, as she finished 1-for-2 with another single.
Griffin threw the first three innings of the game before coming back into the contest in the sixth. She was saddled with the loss, allowing all eight runs (one earned) on 10 hits while striking out one Bobcat. Chelsea Botsch pitched the middle two frames, facing one more than the minimum giving up a walk but not allowing a hit or a run.
The second game featured a late game flurry of runs, as the Wildcats comeback bid fell a run short in the bottom of the seventh before falling to Southern New Hampshire, 3-2.
Katie Warrington pitched all seven innings for the Wildcats, giving up the three runs (zero earned) on five hits but struck out nine batters along the way. The Wildcats committed three errors in game two, leading to all three Penmen runs.
The Wildcats outhit the Penmen, 6-5, but left eight runners on base throughout the contest. Six different batters recorded one hit for Wilmington.
A sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth led to Southern New Hampshire's first run of the game. The runner reached on a one-out single, but moved to third on a field error as the ball got through the outfield. Morgan Farmer then lofted one to left, but deep enough to score the run.
The Penmen tacked on two unearned runs in the sixth, before the Wildcats started their comeback in the bottom of the seventh.
Rachel Painter and Kristin Garvin started the inning off with back-to-back singles to bring the tying run to plate with no outs. But the Penmen starter Dolores Mattice got the next two batters to out to swing the momentum back in favor of Southern New Hampshire.
Christin Headley worked a two-out walk to load the bases, and bring the winning run into the batter's box. Jessica Hassman put the Wildcats on the board with a single in the team's next at-bat, and Berger worked another two-out walk, this time to bring the Wildcats to within one run at 3-2.
Still with the bases loaded and two outs, and now with the tying run only 60 feet away, Mattice got Jessica Stafford to swing through strike three to end the contest.
In addition to Painter, Garvin, and Hassman picking up hits in the seventh inning, Berger, Stafford and Amanda Crockett each added one hit to the offensive attack. Berger was the only batter on either team to record more than a single, as she was stranded at second after a one-out double in the fourth.
The Wildcats continue play on Tuesday with two more games, squaring off against Grand Valley State and Saint Joseph's College at the National Training Center.
