Belles Swept by No. 17 Lady Reds

Game One Box Score - Game Two Box Score

KENOSHA, Wis. - The Saint Mary's softball team lost both ends of a doubleheader to No. 17 ranked Carthage by 6-1 and 10-4 scores on Tuesday.

The nationally-ranked Lady Reds came out strong in the opener as Carthage plated two runs in the bottom of the first and three more in the bottom of the third. A one-out double followed by an outfield single in the first inning allowed the Lady Reds to take the early lead. Two innings later, Carthage started the third with back-to-back doubles and a home run to claim the 5-0 advantage.

The Belles got on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth. Jillian Busfield started the inning off with a single and moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by Angela Dainelli. Busfield tagged up on a fly out to center field and scored on a passed ball to make it a 5-1 affair midway through the fifth.

Carthage came back with a run in the bottom half of the inning to go ahead by what ended up being the final 6-1 margin.

Jillian Busfield led the Belles' hitting efforts on the
day at Carthage.Callie Selner suffered the game one loss in the circle after surrendering five earned runs in three innings of work while striking out one. Jillian Busfield and Sarah Callis collected the two lone hits the Belles tallied while Busfield scored for Saint Mary's.

In the nightcap, the Belles claimed a 1-0 lead through the first half-inning of play. After reaching on a fielder's choice, Caitlyn Migawa moved into scoring position on a walk by Callie Selner and scored from second base on a single down the left field line by Jillian Busfield.

The Lady Reds countered with a three-run first inning and matched that three-run output in the third inning to quickly regain the momentum in game two.

With the score still sitting at 6-1 in favor of Carthage, the Belles made a big push to get right back in the thick of things in the top of the sixth. Busfield notched a lead-off single and Angela Dainelli drew a walk to put a pair of runners on the base paths. The duo moved up sixty feet on a pair of steals, and Busfield scored from third on an infield ground out by Sarah Burke.

Nina Vlahiotis drew a walk to put runners at the corners for the Belles with one out, and Sarah Callis sent Dainelli home on an error by the Lady Reds' third baseman. Saint Mary's kept the momentum going as Victoria Connelly beat out a bunt single, and Kayla Chapman drove in Vlahiotis with an infield ground out before Carthage ended the threat with another infield ground out.

The Lady Reds turned the tide on the Belles again just as Saint Mary's was taking the momentum by pushing across four unearned runs in the bottom half of the sixth inning to pull ahead 10-4. The Belles went down in order in their final at bats as Carthage took both ends of the twinbill.

Sarah Burke shouldered the game-two loss while allowing six earned runs over six innings with a strikeout. Jillian Busfield went 2-for-3 at the dish in game two with an RBI and a run scored. Kayla Chapman added a hit and drove in a run, and Sarah Burke and Sarah Callis each picked up a run batted in for the Belles.

Saint Mary's (8-6) returns to action on Thursday, April 3 when they host Anderson for a doubleheader starting at 3:30 p.m.