Bison earn series sweep over W&J

Andrew Woodley, Sports Information Director

BETHANY, W.Va. (April 12) - The Bethany College softball team won both games of a doubleheader to sweep Washington & Jefferson Thursday evening. The Bison edged the Presidents 2-1 in game one, before powering their way to a 10-5 game two win in Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) play.

THE MATCHUP

• Game 1: Bethany 2, W&J 1 (Box Score)
• Game 2: Bethany 10, W&J 5 (Box Score)
• Records: Bethany 10-10, 3-3 PAC | Washington & Jefferson 6-12, 2-4 PAC
• Location: Bison Field | Bethany, West Virginia

GAME 1: Bethany 2, W&J 1

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Bethany got on the board early with two runs on three hits in the first inning.
• The Bison got one run on a wild pitch, before sophomore Tyra Bell (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) delivered a two-out RBI-single to give Bethany senior pitcher Cassie Weiss (Taylorstown, Pa./McGuffey) a two-run lead.
• W&J answered back with a pair of singles, including a deep fly ball to right field, to score once, but Weiss managed to escape the inning with a 2-1 lead intact.
• Bethany scattered three hits over the next five innings, but all three runners that reached base were retired on a double play.
• The Bison still led 2-1 entering the seventh inning, but a lead-off single put the tying run on base.
• The next batter reached on a tough ground ball to third base. The lead runner was thrown out trying to advance to third base for the first out, before the trail runner was tagged out in a run down to clear the bases with two outs.
• W&J would not go down quietly, as the following batter doubled, but a fly ball in foul territory ended the game and sealed the Bison win.

GAME NOTES

• Weiss improved to 6-5 after holding the Presidents to one run on seven hits with seven strikeouts in a complete-game effort.
• Bell had the lone RBI for the Bison, junior Emily Folk (Hagerstown, Md./North Hagerstown) finished with two hits in the win.
• W&J turned four double plays in the game.

GAME 2: Bethany 10, W&J 5

HOW IT HAPPENED

• After a scoreless first inning, Bethany scored three times with two outs in the second to take the lead.
• Junior Fran Capaldi (Steubenville, Ohio/Catholic Central) delivered the first two-out RBI base-hit to give Bethany a 1-0 advantage.
• Following a single by sophomore Lauren Maichle (Newark, Del. / Delaware Military Academy), junior Erica Amoroso (Belle Vernon, Pa./Belle Vernon) came through with a two-RBI single up the middle to increase the Bethany lead to 3-0.
• W&J took advantage of a Bison miscue to trim the lead to 3-1 in the top of the third inning, but the Presidents gave the run back in the bottom half of the frame. Two runners scored on a two-out error by the second baseman to rebuild the Bethany advantage to 5-1.
• The Presidents manufactured a pair of runs in the top of the fourth inning on three hits and were aided by a wild pitch to make the score 5-3.
• The first two Bison singled to start the bottom of the fourth. After a pair of fly ball outs, Bell came to the dish and cracked a three-run home run over the left field fence to give Bethany an 8-3 lead in the game.
• The Green & White were closing in on the run-rule in the fifth inning when Folk delivered a two-out two-RBI single and advanced to second on a passed ball with the score 10-3, but a strikeout sent the game into the sixth inning.
• W&J managed to scrape across runs in the sixth and seventh innings, but senior pitcher Sam Binkley (Kenilworth, Ontario/St. James) stranded runners on base in both innings to help the Bison earn the sweep.

GAME NOTES

• Binkley (4-5) yielded five runs (three earned) on 12 hits with four strikeouts over seven innings to claim the win.
• Five Bison finished with multi-hit games, including Maichle, who was a perfect 3-for-3 with three runs scored.
• Amoroso, Folk, Bell and sophomore Kaitlyn Mills (New Lexington, Ohio / Crooksville) all had two hits in the win.
• Amoroso and Folk each drove in two runs, while Bell got all three of her RBIs on the fourth inning dinger.

UP NEXT:

• Bethany will are on the road tomorrow, April 13 when they travel to Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania for a doubleheader at Geneva around 3:30 p.m.
• Fans can follow live statistical updates of the games here.