Bethany Softball Falls Twice in Doubleheader Action
March 10 – CLERMONT, Fla. – The Bethany College softball team was defeated in both games of their doubleheader on Thursday. The Green & White's comeback bid against Lebanon Valley fell short, as they were defeated 4-2 before falling to Haverford College, 5-1, in game two.
Bethany (4-6) opened play on Thursday against Lebanon Valley (1-4) with sophomore Cassie Weiss (Washington, Pa./McGuffey) on the hill.
Weiss got off to her usual start, holding the Flying Dutchmen scoreless over the first two innings of play.
After starting the third inning with a strikeout, Weiss ran into some trouble. Lebanon Valley drew a walk and strung together three hits, driving in two runs on a double and adding another on a sacrifice fly to a take a 3-0 advantage.
The Bison continued to struggle throughout the contest to manufacture some offense. Bethany recorded just two hits and left five runners on base through six innings.
Lebanon Valley added another run in the fifth inning as the leadoff hitter singled and stole two bases to get into scoring position. The Flying Dutchman made it 4-0 on a sacrifice grounder up the middle.
Bethany made some noise in the seventh inning, stringing together three consecutive hits.
Jasmine Fuqua (Washington, Pa./Trinity) doubled down the left field line with one out and advanced to third on a single to center field by Kylee Clark (Heath, Ohio/Lakewood). T.J. Solomon (Beltsville, Md./Elizabeth Seton) then ripped a ball into the left-center gap for a stand-up double, driving in both runs and cutting the Lebanon Valley lead to two (4-2).
The Flying Dutchmen, however, retired the next two batters to end the inning and conserve the 4-2 victory.
The Bison took on Haverford College (1-6) in the second contest as Samantha Binkley (Arthur, Manitoba, Canada/St. James) started on the mound.
Bethany fell behind in the first inning after consecutive singles and an error allowed Haverford to take a one-run lead.
Haverford added two more runs in the third inning on two hits, including an RBI triple that drove in the leadoff hitter.
The Green & White responded in the bottom of the inning after Emily Folk (Hagerstown, Md./North Hagerstown) singled to start in the inning. Aubrey Baehr (Evans City, Pa./Seneca Valley) then laid down a sacrifice bunt to put Folk in scoring position, and Folk came around to score when Kayla Kelly (Pasadena, Md./Institute of Notre Dame) reached on an error with two outs.
The score remained 3-1 until the sixth inning when Haverford increased their lead, using four hits to total two runs.
Haverford closed the game out over the final two innings and held on for a 5-1 win over the Bison.
Binkley threw three innings, striking out three batters and allowing two earned runs. Gabrielle Goudy (Powhatan Point, Ohio/River) came on in relief, allowing two runs in four innings of work. Goudy also struck out three Haverford batters.
Ashlee Brill (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster) led the Bison with two hits while Clark, Sarah Coss (Bowie, Md./Bishop McNamara), and Folk added a hit, each.
Bethany College will return to action on Friday, March 11 when they take on Penn State – Behrend and Arcadia University. The games are slated for 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. start times.
