Softball takes one of two from Capital

Andrew Woodley, Sports Information Director

BETHANY, W.Va. (March 27) – The Bethany College softball team took one out of two games with Capital in a non-conference series at Bison Field. The Bison won 4-0 in game one, before falling 6-1 in the nightcap.

The split moves Bethany to 6-10 overall, while the Crusaders of the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) go to 10-6 this season.

GAME 1: Bethany 4, Capital 0

Behind a complete-game four-hit shutout by junior Cassie Weiss (Avella, Pa./McGuffey), the Bison earned a 4-0 win in the first game of the doubleheader.

Weiss went the distance and held the Crusaders to four hits with five strikeouts and zero walks yielded to earn the her fifth win this year.

The Bison gave Weiss run support early, plating runs in three of the first four innings. Bethany took advantage of a Capital miscue on a sacrifice bunt attempt to score the first run, before senior Sarah Coss (Bowie, Md./Bishop McNamara) doubled to the right field gap to give the Bison a 2-0 lead.

Bethany loaded the bases with nobody out in the second inning. Sophomore Francesca Capaldi (Steubenville, Ohio/Catholic Central) beat out a throw to the plate on ball hit to the second baseman to push the Bison lead to 3-0, but the Crusaders forced a trio of infield groundouts to escape further damage.

Junior Jazz Fuqua (Washington, Pa./Trinity) set the table in the fourth inning to extend Bethany's lead to 4-0. She reached on a bunt-single, stole second, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a RBI-single by junior Aubrey Baehr (Evans City, Pa./Seneca Valley).

The run support was more than enough for Weiss, who only allowed a runner to advance beyond first base once in the game.

Fuqua led the team at the dish with a perfect 3-for-3 performance to go with a run scored and a stolen base. Zero Bison batters struck out in the win.

GAME 2: Capital 6, Bethany 1

Bethany was limited to four hits and a five-run inning by the Crusaders propelled the visitors to a 6-1 win over the Bison in the second game.

Capital broke through in the third inning to score the first run on a wild pitch and held the Bison off of the board in the bottom half of the frame. Bethany had runners at second and third with one out, but an out recorded at the plate and a pop up to the third baseman ended the threat and kept Capital ahead 1-0.

The Crusaders broke the game open with five runs on five hits in the sixth inning to extend their lead to 6-0, but the Bison did not go quietly. Freshman Kayla Dinsmore (Beavercreek, Ohio/Beavercreek) smacked a RBI-double to deep right field to bring break-up the shutout and make the score 6-1.

Unfortunately, the Bison were retired in order in the seventh inning and had to settle with a split of the series.

Weiss (5-5) was saddled with the loss after allowing only one run on two hits with a pair of strikeouts over 3.0 innings of work.

Bethany will play its third OAC opponent in a row on Thursday, March 30 when they head to New Concord, Ohio to play a doubleheader against Muskingum at 3:30 p.m.