Bison Pitching Staff Tosses 14 Shutout Innings in Softball's Doubleheader Sweep of Grove City
April 21 – BETHANY, W. Va. – The Bethany College softball team received masterful performances from their top two pitchers, as they Green & White blanked Grove City College over 14 innings of a doubleheader sweep on Thursday. Both sophomores Cassie Weiss (Washington, Pa./McGuffey) and Sam Binkley (Ontario, Canada/St. James) tossed their first complete-game shutouts of the season.
The Bison captured game one by a 3-0 score behind Weiss' 11th win of the year. The sophomore earned her fourth-consecutive win in a start, pushing her record to 11-8 on the season. The Bethany ace allowed just one hit during her outing, marking the first time in a seven-inning game that she had achieved a one-hit shutout (also threw one-hitter in a five-inning win over Wilson in the ECAC South Regional Tournament last season).
Weiss got all the run support she needed in the home half of the first inning as the Bison put together a pair of runs in the frame. The top of the Bison order set the table, loading the bases on back-to-back singles from Kayla Kelly (Pasadena, Md./Institute of Notre Dame) and Aubrey Baehr (Evans City, Pa./Seneca Valley) and a walk drawn by Deanna Mihalco (Patterson, N.Y./Brewster).
On the next play, following a pop out, the Wolverines attempted to double off Mihalco at first. However, a fielding error by the Grove City first baseman allowed Kelly to score what proved to be the game-winning run. Baehr would then come into score on a wild pitch, and the Bison found themselves up 2-0.
The Green & White totaled nine hits in the contest, but the only other run for the Bison came in the bottom of the fifth inning. Baehr and Mihalco continued their hot streaks, singling and doubling, respectively, to put runners on second and third with no out. Catcher Marissa Bosley (New Martinsville, W. Va./Magnolia) then produced the only RBI of the game, singling home Baehr to push the advantage to 3-0.
Baehr was a thorn in the side of the Grove City pitching staff throughout the first game, collecting her first three-hit game of the season while scoring two of the three Bethany runs. Kelly finished the contest with a pair of hits while Bosley totaled a hit and a RBI.
Weiss was brilliant on the mound, needing just 76 pitches to retire the Wolverines. The Bethany ace faced just two batters over the minimum, retiring the side in order in the second and third innings. Following an error with one out in the fourth, she then retired the last 11 batters she faced in order.
Arguably her best-career performance to date, Weiss surrender just one hit in seven-complete innings, while striking out eight batters.
Looking to make her own mark on the doubleheader, Binkley got the start in game two and picked up right where her fellow sophomore left off. The sophomore allowed just one baserunner through the first three innings (a walk in the top of the second), before giving up a pair of hits in the fourth.
Binkley got into a jam in the top of the fourth as back-to-back hits put runners at the corners with one out. However, Binkley worked herself out of the pickle unscathed, keeping the shutout intact.
The Green & White's offense support Binkley throughout the contest, getting a pair of runs in the third, fourth, and fifth innings.
In the second inning, a TJ Solomon (Beltsville, Md./Elizabeth Seton) single scored Sarah Coss (Bowie, Md./Bishop McNamara) to give Bethany the lead. Freshman Emily Folk (Hagerstown, Md./North Hagerstown), who had walked earlier in the inning, then scored on a wild pitch to make the count 2-0.
The fourth frame, Kelly got the inning started with a double to left-center field. Two batters later, she was brought home on a RBI hit by Mihalco. Senior Sam Newfrock (Endwell, N.Y./Endicott) came into pinch run for the Bison firstbaseman, and, thanks to some aggressive baserunning, put herself into position to score on a Kylee Clark (Heath, Ohio/Lakewood) single. The RBI pushed the Bison advantage to 4-0.
In the fifth inning, the Bison saw five-consecutive batters reach base with one out in the frame. Solomon singled to center to start the rally, and was moved to second on a bunt single by Ashlee Brill (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster). Kelly then singled to left to load the bases. Baher followed by drawing a four-pitch walk, scoring Solomon, before Mihalco singled back through the middle to score Brill and expand the lead to 6-0.
Offensively, Mihalco finished with two hits and two RBIs, while Coss, Solomon and Kelly all tallied a pair of hits, each.
Binkley's three-hit shutout was the second of the sophomore's career. She matched her totals from her first-career start on March 8, 2015, when, as a freshman, she threw a three-hitter against the College of New England in a 6-0 victory.
The sophomore allowed four baserunners throughout the game, giving up three hits and walking one batter while striking out six on just 90 pitches.
The dynamic pitching duo combined to throw 14 innings of shutout softball, allowing just four total hits and six baserunners. The performance marks the first doubleheader shutout by a Bison pitching staff since the 2008 season (Bethany defeated Chatham 8-0/10-0 in a pair of five-inning decisions).
Bethany will be back in action on Saturday, April 23 as they travel to Beaver Falls, Pa. for a conference doubleheader with Geneva College. The matchup with the Golden Tornadoes is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start.
