Softball Falls to Lock Haven and Notre Dame College on Third Day of the Spring Games

Saturday, March 5

Clermont, Fla

1:00 p.m. EST

St. Cloud State

9-9

Lock Haven University

6-4

St. Cloud State

Lock Haven

Photo by: Tom Nelson

Softball Falls to Lock Haven and Notre Dame College on Third Day of the Spring Games

3/5/2016 10:37:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

CLERMONT, Fla. – St. Cloud State's softball team (9-10) dropped two close games on the third day of the Spring Game in Clermont, Fla. at the National Training Center. The team fell by a 7-6 score in eight innings to Lock Haven in the first game of the afternoon and then dropped a 7-5 contest to Notre Dame College in the nightcap.

Senior Senna Francesconi (3-4) was tagged with the loss in the first game against the Bald Eagles despite only allowing two runs (one earned) in 5.1 innings thrown with four strikeouts. Junior Megan Hedstrom started the opening contest for SCSU and gave up five unearned runs. The win went to Lock Haven's Racheal Mouillesseaux (4-2), who allowed six runs in eight innings.

The Huskies were facing an early 5-0 deficit in the second inning as back-to-back errors cost SCSU dearly.

SCSU slowly began climbing back into the game with two runs in the fourth inning. Sophomore Veronica Wold walked and moved to second on sophomore Libby Bingham's single. Senior Taige Puetz knocked in both Wold and Bingham was her double.

The Huskies picked up a single run in the fifth inning on junior Jessica Goerger sacrifice fly to score junior Rebecca Harps.

After Lock Haven scored a run in the bottom of the sixth inning to again extend the lead to three, 6-3, SCSU rallied for three tallies in the top of the seventh inning to tie things up. Puetz doubled to start the frame. After the next two were retired in order, junior Alyssa Coletto moved Puetz to third with a two-out single. Sophomore Brianne Hightshoe was inserted to run for Coletto and moved all the way to third as Goerger drove in Puetz was her RBI single. Freshman Samantha Boettcher ran for Goerger and scored all the way from first as Hightshoe also scored on senior Tricia DeBoer's triple to tie the game at six all.

In extra innings, the Bald Eagles were able to squeak the game-winning run across on the second of back-to-back wild pitches to score Bryann Hilty, who was placed on second base as part of the international-tie-breaker rule.

Hedstrom (4-4) took the loss in the second game for SCSU after allowing five runs in four relief innings against Notre Dame College.

NDC scored a single run in the second inning and another run in the third inning to take the early lead.

SCSU rallied to tie the game at two all in the bottom of the third inning. Wold started the inning with a double and moved to third on a Puetz one-out single. Junior Abby Bunnell drove in Wold with her single to left field. A double steal moved Bunnell to second and Puetz to third. Harps followed with an RBI single to plate Puetz and tie the game at two all.

The Falcons took the lead for good with three runs in the fourth inning with Kayla Sidorski and Maria Vanadia registering RBIs.

SCSU answered with a run in the bottom of the fourth. DeBoer singled, moved to second and then third on pass balls and scored on Bingham's sacrifice fly.

The score remained 5-3 until the seventh when NDC scored pair of runs.

The Huskies attempted rally would come up just short in the bottom of the frame. Bingham reached on an infield single and scored on Puetz's triple. Puetz would score the team's fifth and final run of the game on Bunnell's single to right field to make the final score 7-5.

St. Cloud State has Sunday off before resuming play in the Spring Games with a pair of games on March 7. SCSU begins plays on Monday with a 1 p.m. contest against Northwood University (MI) before closing out the day with a 3 p.m. contest against the University of the Sciences.