Bison Softball Earns Doubleheader Sweep of Chatham
April 5 – PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Bethany College softball team improved their Presidents' Athletic Conference record to 3-1 on the season by sweeping a double header with Chatham University on Tuesday afternoon. The Bison won the first game, 13-2 in five innings, before taking game two by a 6-1 final.
The Bison tied a season high with 13 runs scored in the game one victory. The Green & White also posted a season best with 14 hits in the contest, tallying double-digit hits for the fourth time on the season.
Eight different Bison notched at least one hit in just five innings, with five tallying a multi-hit performance. Senior catcher Marissa Bosley (New Martinsville, W. Va./Magnolia) led the way with a trio of hits, while scoring three times and driving in three RBIs. The multi-hit game was the fourth of the season for the senior backstop. Her totals also marked the third time this season in which she has driven in multiple runs.
Joining Bosley in the multi-RBI category were junior Sarah Coss (Bowie, Md./Bishop McNamara) and sophomore Jasmine Fuqua (Washington, Pa./Trinity). Coss totaled three RBIs on a pair of hits, while Fuqua plated a pair on one hit.
Seniors Ashlee Brill (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster) and Kayla Kelly (Pasadena, Md./Institute of Notre Dame), as well as freshman Emily Folk (Hagerstown, Md./North Hagerstown) also added a multi-hit outing to the team's totals. The feat marked the first of Folk's career, while Kelly notched her team-best seventh multi-hit performance, and Brill, her fifth.
The Green & White did a majority of their damage in the top of the fifth inning of game one. Leading 5-1 heading into the frame, thanks in large part to three RBIs from Coss, the Bison blew the game open with an eight-spot.
Bosley drove in the first run of the inning with a single to center, plating senior Sam Newfrock (Endwell, N.Y./Endicott). Two batters later, with the bases full of Bison, Fuqua roped a two-RBI single to right, scoring both Bosley and Deanna Mihalco (Patterson, N.Y./Brewster). That was then followed by RBI doubles from Aubrey Baehr (Evans City, Pa./Seneca Valley) and Newfrock, as well as a run-scoring single from Bosley, her second hit of the inning.
When the dust settled at the end of the fifth, the Bison held a 13-1 lead. The Green & White allowed one run in the home half of the fifth, before starting pitcher Cassie Weiss (Washington, Pa./McGuffey) nailed down the mercy-rule victory.
Weiss earned the complete-game decision in game one, allowing just a pair of earned runs while striking out 10. The performance marked the fourth time this season that the sophomore has struck out ten or more batters. She now leads the PAC in total strikeouts with 83 on the year.
In game two, the Bison needed all seven innings to dispatch the Cougars, earning the win by a 6-1 score. The Green & White's pitching staff once again got the job done as sophomore Sam Binkley (Ontario, Canada/St. James) earned her second-straight win.
Binkley had one of her top performances in the circle during the 2016 season, holding Chatham to just three total hits, the second lowest of any Bethany opponent this year. The sophomore earned the complete-game victory, going seven strong innings while allowing just one earned and striking out seven.
Offensively, the Green & White took the early lead once again, striking for a pair of runs in the top of the second. With one out in the frame, Francesca Capaldi (Steubenville, Ohio/Central Catholic) singled to left field. After taking second base, she was moved to third on a single by Jazmine Keller (Glen Easton, W. Va./John Marshall). Capaldi was then brought home on a RBI base hit by Baehr.
The next batter was Kelly, who doubled to left field, scoring Keller to give the Bison a 2-0 advantage. The cushion would prove to be more than enough for Binkley, who dropped her ERA to a team best 3.09.
Chatham scored one run in the home half of the second inning, before the Bison responded with one in the top of the third. The run was driven in on a sacrifice fly by Capaldi, giving her the first RBI of her career.
The remaining Bison runs were scored between the sixth and seventh innings. The Bison plated two in the sixth on RBIs by Kelly and Mihalco, before tallying their sixth run of the game in the seventh to round out the scoring at 6-1.
The Bethany offense totaled 11 more hits in game two, with nine different Bison posting at least one. Kelly led the way with a trio of hits while driving in a pair.
The Green & White will be back in action on Saturday, April 9, as they play host to Grove City College. The day will also serve as Bethany's senior day celebration, with the Bison honoring their six senior members. First pitch of the game is scheduled for 1 p.m.
