The SMC Belles softball team came up short in a two-game series against the Kalamazoo Hornets on Saturday afternoon in South Bend. The Belles lost 9-1 in a six-inning game one and fell 11-4 to the Hornets in game two. Midway through April, SMC is now 7-15 overall and 2-4 in conference play.
Game one: Kalamazoo 9, SMC 1 (six innings)
Game one was scoreless until the top of the third when the Hornets plated five runs to catapult themselves into the lead. The Belles responded with one run in the bottom half of the third. Valiant batting efforts set up subsequent threats for the Belles, though a strikeout and a groundout stopped them from actually adding to the score.
Kalamazoo performed well under pressure, adding three more runs with two outs in the top of the fourth. The Belles could not counter before the Hornets scored again in the top of the sixth. This led to the declaration of the run-ahead rule, ending the day at six innings and leaving the Belles with a 9-1 loss.
Game two: Kalamazoo 11, SMC 4
Saint Mary’s capitalized on its first at-bats in game two as junior outfielder McKenna Shoupe led off with a double before moving up to third and eventually scoring on a single up the middle by senior second baseman Caitlin Traxler. The Hornets countered with four runs in the first two innings to take a 4-1 lead. The Belles continued to fight with a run in the top of the third by Traxler off of a single by junior infielder Libby Bierbaum.
On the flip side, Kalamazoo gained a run in the bottom of the fifth. Saint Mary’s then responded with a run in the top of the sixth. At 5-4, it looked like anyone’s game. That is, until the Hornets pushed six runs across to bring their lead up to 11-4. The Belles were unable to counter, ending the game in seven innings this time.
The Belles have a break from conference play this week and will return to competition against the University of Chicago on Friday. The doubleheader will have start times of 4 and 6 p.m.
