Bison rally to sweep Saint Vincent and give Forsty win No. 750

Andrew Woodley, Sports Information Director

BETHANY, W.Va. (April 28) – Behind a complete-game shutout and a come-from-behind win, the Bison swept Saint Vincent by scores of 2-0 and 4-3 to give Head Coach Jan Forsty her 750^th career win Friday evening at Bison Stadium on Senior Day.

The Bethany College softball team concludes the season at 16-22 overall and 8-10 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC). Meanwhile, the Bearcats fall to 11-7 in league play, 18-14 overall this season.

Forsty becomes one of only 15 coaches all-time in NCAA Division III with 750 career victories and she stands alone as the winningest coach in PAC softball history.

GAME 1: Bethany 2, Saint Vincent 0

Behind a complete-game shutout effort from junior Cassie Weiss (Avella, Pa./McGuffey), the Bison earned a 2-0 win to open the doubleheader on Friday.

Bethany took the lead in the first inning when senior Sarah Coss (Bowie, Md./Bishop McNamara) connected on a two-out double and was knocked home by freshman Kayla Dinsmore (Beavercreek, Ohio/Beavercreek) to give the Bison a 1-0 lead.

Saint Vincent had runners in scoring position in the second, third and fourth innings, but Weiss remained composed and escaped each jam. Notably, the Bearcats had the first two batters in the third inning reach base, before Weiss forced a pop-up and struck out a pair to end the threat.

Saint Vincent had another opportunity in the sixth inning when they loaded the bases, but Weiss recovered to force a fly out to left field that kept the Bearcats off of the board and maintained the 1-0 lead.

The Bison gave Weiss an extra cushion in the sixth inning when sophomore Francesca Capaldi (Steubenville, Ohio/Catholic Central) drove in Dinsmore with an RBI-single to make the score 2-0 in favor of the Bison.

The Bearcats sent the game-tying run to the plate with one out in the seventh inning, before Weiss struck out one batter and forced Saint Vincent's Shelby Noel, the reigning PAC Hitter of the Week, to pop the ball up to shallow right field to end the game.

Weiss improved to 10-14 on the season after tossing the complete-game shutout and limiting the Bearcats to six hits with eight strikeouts. She stands second all-time in Bethany softball history with 426 strikeouts, 37 behind the all-time record of 463 set by recent Bethany Hall of Fame inductee Rachael Schafer (2000-03).

Coss and Dinsmore each finished the game with two hits to lead the Bison at the plate in the win.

GAME 2: Bethany 4, Saint Vincent 3

The Bison rallied from behind and used a walk-off sacrifice fly by junior Jazz Fuqua (Washington, Pa./Trinity) to defeat Saint Vincent 4-3 and secure Head Coach Jan Forsty's 750^th career win.

Saint Vincent was the team that scored early in game two, as Noel doubled in a runner from first to make the score 1-0 Bearcats in the first inning.

The score remained 1-0 over the next four innings, before Saint Vincent added to its lead with a two-run home run in the sixth inning by Noel to push the score to 3-0.

Bethany responded in the bottom of the sixth with three runs on four hits to tie the game. Fuqua led the inning off with a double and scored on a two-out pinch-hit single by Cassie Weiss to make the score 3-1. The next batter, freshman Kaitlyn Mills (New Lexington, Ohio/Crooksville), connected on her first-career home run to tie the game at 3-3 heading into the final inning.

Saint Vincent did not score in the top half of the seventh, setting the table for the Bison to walk away with the win. Freshman Sammy Seymour (Dover, N.H./Dover) led the inning off with a single, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and moved to third on a wild pitch. Fuqua poked a fly ball deep enough to right field to allow Seymour to beat the throw at the plate and clinch the win for the Bison.

Junior Sam Binkley (Kenilworth, Ontario/St. James) improved to 5-8 on the season after yielding three runs on nine hits with a pair of strikeouts in a complete-game effort.

Fuqua finished the game with two hits and an RBI, while Mills had a team-best two RBI on her home run.

Prior to the start of game one, the Bison softball team honored senior Sarah Coss for her contributions to the program over the past four years.