Entering the week without a single instance of back-to-back wins this season, Saint Mary’s softball rattled off four consecutive victories in doubleheaders between Tuesday and Wednesday. The Belles outscored Olivet 24-2 in the first twin bill before claiming 4-0 and 7-6 victories over Wheaton on the second day.
Belles overcome Olivet with dichotomous production
Saint Mary’s opened the new week with a detonation at the plate against Olivet. The Belles brought home 22 runs in just five innings, posting 19 hits and capitalizing on five Comet errors.
While the Saint Mary’s offense mass-produced runs, senior right-hander Libby Bierbaum pitched comfortably in the circle. Across five innings, she allowed one run on two hits with six strikeouts, achieving a complete game for her second win of the season.
After a sacrifice fly plated the Belles’ first run in the second inning, the tidal wave of scoring began in the third. Senior center fielder McKenna Shoupe drove in what would hold up as the game-winning run with one of her three hits, putting Saint Mary’s ahead 2-0. Senior third baseman Rylee Hershberger followed with a two-run double, beginning her four-RBI performance. Another RBI single from junior left fielder Alexis Rauch plated a fifth run before a sacrifice fly made it 6-0.
Though Olivet pulled a run back in the bottom of the third, Saint Mary’s made it irrelevant an inning later. The Belles scored 13 runs in the top of the fourth, bringing players home on seven singles and two doubles. Senior first baseman McKenna Myers, who batted in four runs on the day, got halfway to the cycle in the fourth inning alone by singling and doubling home runs.
Three more Saint Mary’s runs crossed the plate in the fifth, sealing the deal on a 22-1 win for the visitors.
Interestingly enough, after the Belles accumulated 21 runs across the final three innings of game one, they went scoreless across the first five frames of game two against Olivet. Both starting pitchers, Michelle Michelin of Olivet and sophomore right-hander Sam Mikitka of Saint Mary’s, threw complete games.
After the Belles stranded two runners to end the fifth, Olivet made them pay with a run in the top of the sixth. Three-hole hitter Alexis Bond drove it in with a two-out single, breaking through against Mikitka.
Saint Mary’s made sure the Comet lead didn’t last long, though. With two outs and two runners in scoring position, Mikitka called her own number and singled on the infield to tie the score at one. An error at shortstop then extended the inning and allowed freshman right fielder Madi Ingolia to reach base, pushing the Belles ahead 2-1.
Pitching with the lead for the first time, Mikitka induced three consecutive groundouts in the seventh, closing out her first win of the season and the Belles’ second of the day.
Early Belles scoring leads to second sweep against Wheaton
To start Wednesday’s home doubleheader against Wheaton, Saint Mary’s received its best complete game yet. Senior right-hander Caitlin Traxler threw in all seven innings in a 4-0 win, silencing the Thunder despite striking out only one for her second win of the season.
Saint Mary’s provided Traxler with run support right out of the gate, scoring one in the first and three more in the second. And like Mikitka before her, Traxler plated her own run with a double to start the scoring. Traxler would add another RBI in the second after a single from freshman shortstop Mary Charniak that scored two.
Traxler then moved back to the circle and stranded one runner in the third, two in the fifth and two more in the seventh, guiding the Belles to another victory.
In game two, Wheaton claimed its first lead of the day with an RBI single in inning number one. But Saint Mary’s stormed into a commanding lead, scoring in four consecutive frames to take a 7-1 advantage through four frames. Myers and Bierbaum, who each recorded three hits in the game, combined for a trio of run-scoring doubles between the third and fourth innings.
Meanwhile, Bierbaum dealt with a Wheaton rally in the circle for Saint Mary’s. The Thunder struck for three runs in the fifth, another in the sixth and one more in the seventh. But Bierbaum forced two flyouts with the tying run on second in the final innings, closing out yet another complete game and a second consecutive doubleheader sweep for the Belles.
Now 6-12 overall and 2-2 in MIAA play, the Belles will host Kalamazoo for an in-conference doubleheader on Saturday, with first pitches set for 1 and 3 p.m.
