CLERMONT, Fla. – The Ursinus softball team split a pair of games on Wednesday afternoon at the Legends Way Ballfields. The Bears were edged 6-5 by Hiram in their first game before bouncing back with a 5-2 win over Concordia-Chicago in the second contest.
With the split, the Bears record moved to 5-2 overall as they played on their penultimate day in Florida.
Game 1: Hiram 6, Ursinus 5
Senior Mackenzie Brennan led off the contest with a double and the Bears were set up with runners on second and third base following a dropped pop up from the Terriers pitcher. However, back-to-back strikeouts and a pick off on first base prevented the Bears from breaking onto the scoreboard. Ursinus seemed to escape a second and third base jam when a pop fly ball was induced, but the ball was dropped and both runners came around to score to give the Terriers a 2-0 lead. After two scoreless innings from each team, the Bears rallied to tie the game in the top of the fourth inning with two runs on three hits. Sophomore Sam Williams led the inning off with a single and pinch-runner Anna Mefford later advanced to second on a wild pitch. Senior Julia Eckels came through with two outs with a triple that just landed fair down the right field line before Brennan followed with a single to tie the game.
A double play on a lineout put the Terriers in the hole with two outs in the bottom half of the fourth, but a triple followed by a single put Hiram back on top at 3-2. Two more singles loaded the bases before a bases-clearing double put the Terriers up 6-2. Ursinus loaded the bases with one out in the top of the fifth and grabbed a run from a sacrifice fly from junior Amanda Panati. The Bears then used some two out magic of their own in the top of the sixth when senior Ally St. Jean ripped a double to right center and scored two runs to cut the Terriers lead down to 6-5. Ursinus escaped a jam in the bottom of the sixth and put two runners on base with back-to-back singles on their last out. Unfortunately for the Bears, a strikeout ended the game.
Game 2: Ursinus 5, Concordia Chicago 2
First-year centerfielder Samantha Mallen kept the game scoreless in the top of the first as she threw out the Cougars lead runner at home plate following a single. Following a short lightning delay, the Bears broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the second when Mallen doubled in sophomore Madison Wilson after she reached on a throwing error from the Concordia pitcher. Ursinus added one more run in the inning to make it a 2-0 game with two outs after the Cougars third baseman mishandled a ground ball. The Cougars put runners on first and third with one out in the top of the third and were able to cut the deficit down to 2-1 on a sacrifice fly to right field. Concordia loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the fourth and tied the game at two following a single up the middle. With the bases still loaded, Mefford made a key diving stop on a lineout and doubled up the Cougars runner on first. First-year pitcher Stephanie Wichman then induced a fly out to escape the jam.
Ursinus responded by taking advantage of three Cougar errors in the bottom of half of the fourth by scoring three runs to go up 5-2. Following a leadoff single from Mallen, Mefford reached base after a throw off after fielding a bunt attempt went wide of the Cougar first baseman. The Bears took the lead back at 3-2 in the next at-bat when a throw on a stealing attempt was mishandled by the Cougars shortstop. The Bears added another run off an errant throw to first base and one more from a groundout from junior Allyson Meakim. Wichman kept the Cougars off the scoreboard for the last three innings to preserve the win for Ursinus.
Mallen went a perfect 3-of-3 from the plate and posted one RBI along with a run scored in the second game. St. Jean paced the Bears in the first game by going 2-of-4 from the plate with two RBIs and one run scored. Wichman earned her second win of the week after allowing one hit and two walks while striking out one batter in the final four innings. Junior Alexis Miller started the second game and allowed two earned runs on seven hits with three strikeouts along with two walks in three innings. Senior Kayla McTamney suffered the loss in the first game after allowing six runs (four earned) on seven hits and struck out two batters. Sophomore Lauren Lofland relieved McTamney and tossed 2.1 innings of relief while walking three and striking out one batter.
The Bears return to action tomorrow, March 10th as they will now play three games starting with a rematch against Concordia-Chicago at 8 a.m. The teams agreed to add a second game after each team had a game canceled on Sunday due to lack of umpires. Ursinus closes their spring break trip by facing Gordon at 10:15 a.m. and Nebraska Wesleyan at 12:30.