Saint Mary's continued MIAA play by splitting a doubleheader with No. 8 Calvin Tuesday afternoon in two extra-inning thrillers.
"We were kind of squeaking by," junior captain McKenna Corrigan said of the team's performance. "It shouldn't have been that close."
In Calvin's first MIAA game, the Belles handed the Knights a 2-1 loss. Calvin exacted revenge in the second game, beating the Belles 4-3. The Belles now have an overall record of 14-4 and a conference record of 1-3, keeping them in seventh place while Calvin moves to fifth in the MIAA.
Sophomore pitcher Calli Davison helped the Belles to their first conference win, allowing five hits and just one run in Calvin's 30 at-bats. The Belles jumped out to an early lead when freshman centerfielder Ashley Peterson scored in the first on Sarah Miesle's single.
Calvin junior catcher Samantha Ehlert had the Knights' only run in the seventh inning after sophomore shortstop Loren Scarbrough doubled.
In the extra frame of the eighth inning, Peterson got things started again by leading it off with a double to right-centerfield. With Peterson on second, freshman second baseman Mo Healy singled to right center to drive in the go-ahead run at 2-1. Calvin failed to convert its two hits in the bottom half of the inning for runs, and Saint Mary's escaped with the win.
The Belles jumped out to a strong start again in the second half of the double dip. Sophomore catcher Ashley Fusaro scored an unearned run in the second and Davison scored an unearned run in the third for the 2-0 lead. The Calvin hitters finally found their rhythm, scoring one run in the fourth and two runs in the fifth. Calvin junior centerfielder Ruth Diemer scored in the fifth on a wild pitch.
The Belles sent the game into extra innings after they tied the game 3-3 when Peterson scored on a sacrifice fly off Healy's bat in the bottom of the seventh. In the eighth, Calvin senior leftfielder Erin Conrad scored to push the Knights to their first MIAA victory.
"We had the opportunities, but we just couldn't do it," Corrigan said. "We tried to squeak by like we did in the first game, but we just came up short."
Corrigan said the team hasn't given up on their conference schedule.
"We still have a lot of conference ball to play," she said. "We're still going to keep the same goals and do our best to achieve them in our remaining time."
