Over the past three weeks, weather has thrown Saint Mary's softball for a scheduling loop. The Belles have had a total of eight games postponed, allowing them to play just two in the 21 days leading up to their first conference doubleheader.
That doubleheader, a Saturday visit to Alma, played out as scheduled. The Belles fell in both games, dropping the opener 6-3 before falling 7-1 in the finale. With less than a month remaining in the season, Saint Mary’s now owns an overall record of 2-12 with an 0-2 start to MIAA play.
In game one, the Scots made sure Saint Mary’s never saw the lead in their three-run victory. After the first two frames passed by without a score, the teeth of Alma’s order attacked senior right-hander Libby Bierbaum, the Belles’ starting pitcher. Senior Danielle Dumoulin first plated two runs with a double, then junior clean-up hitter Morgan Brandau doubled Alma’s lead with a two-run home run. Bierbaum would exit after four innings with five strikeouts and four runs allowed.
Down 4-0, the Belles pulled a run back in the fifth on freshman shortstop Mary Charniak’s single up the middle. But Brandau shut down that push immediately, cranking her second two-run blast of the game in the home half of the fifth.
Still, Saint Mary’s continued its rally while behind 6-1 in the sixth. Senior first baseman McKenna Myers singled home a run on the infield before a fielder’s choice brought in another Belle.
After sophomore right-hander Sam Mikitka denied the Scots an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth, the Belles opened the final frame in promising fashion. Charniak whacked a leadoff double, putting the Belles a baserunner away from sending the tying run to the plate. But two flyouts and a strikeout killed any prospects of a comeback, securing a 6-3 win for the Scots.
In the second game, both teams used only one pitcher, with sophomore left-hander Morgan Westall of Alma allowing no earned runs in seven innings and senior right-hander Caitlin Traxler of Saint Mary’s conceding six earned runs on nine walks. After Traxler stranded the bases loaded in the top of the second, the Belles took their first lead of the day on an Alma error.
However, that one-run lead would last no more than a half-inning, as Alma quickly tied the game in the third. At the top of the Scots order, sophomore Julia Duncan and junior Reneigh Sandmann ripped consecutive doubles, bringing in the tying run.
The Scots would add at least a run over each of the next four innings, playing as the visiting team on the scoreboard. Duncan scored two runs, including the eventual game-winner, on her double in the fourth inning. Singles from Jaycie LaValley in the fifth and Sandmann in the seventh would bring home additional runs, with a two-run Belles error falling between them in the sixth.
One of the few offensive bright spots for Saint Mary’s, junior left fielder Alexis Rauch, collected two hits in the finale and scored the lone Belles run.
The Belles now have a busy week ahead, with doubleheaders at Olivet and at home against Wheaton (Illinois) on the slate. The Olivet games will take place at 3 and 5 p.m. on Tuesday, while the Wheaton games are set for 2 and 4 p.m. on Wednesday.
