Saint Mary's (5-21, 0-12) will try to wind up its season on a positive note this Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. against non-MIAA conference foe Rockford College. The Belles are still fighting to get that elusive sixth win of the season despite their inability to get off the snide from an 18-game losing streak.
It has been a frustrating season for the Belles, especially coming off a successful 2004 campaign in which the team won its first MIAA postseason title. Dealing with adversity has been difficult for this year's team, particularly because the team only returned five players from last year's championship squad, not to mention bringing in a new coach who was a rookie herself.
The Belles last played a week ago tomorrow, against conference leader Alma College. Alma was too much for Saint Mary's, blanking them in both ends of a double-header by the scored of 6-0 and 15-0. The offense was almost non-existent on the day, as the Belles could only muster three hits for the entire afternoon.
Game one saw freshman pitcher McKenna Corrigan give up five runs on just five hits in two and a third innings of work. Junior Bridget Grall and sophomore Amanda Trevino pitched in relief, holding Alma scoreless on just two hits for the last four frames.
Grall and Corrigan helped themselves by notching the only two hits in the game for the Belles, as the rest of the team could not figure out Alma's senior pitcher Leigh Ann LaFave.
Game two was Alma College putting on a clinic, as they punished Saint Mary's pitching all day long en route to 15 runs on 15 hits. On the mound, Alma had a brilliant pitching performance by senior Melissa Tavadian and sophomore Kay McDonald, who combined to throw a five inning, one-hit shutout.
The Alma squad's offense was led by standout senior center fielder Mary Pietsch, who scored twice, and drove in three runs on three hits, including a double and a home run. As a team, Alma had four round-trippers, five extra-base hits, and no errors as opposed to the four miscues by Saint Mary's.
After Rockford College, the Belles will finish out their season with two home games against MIAA conference opponents, Olivet College (17-11, 6-4) on Tuesday and Kalamazoo College (3-21, 2-8) on Thursday, both of which will start at 3:30 p.m.
