Belles Blank Regents, Drop Nailbiter to Cougars
Rockford Box Score - Minnesota-Morris Box Score
CAPE CORAL, Fla. - The Saint Mary's softball team claimed a solid 6-0 over Rockford before falling in a 1-0 nailbiter against Minnesota-Morris on Tuesday afternoon.
In the first game of the day against Rockford, the Saint Mary's offense had back-to-back big innings while the Belles defense was solid behind a quality outing by Callie Selner in the circle.
The Belles threatened to get on the scoreboard in the top of the first with runners on first and second with two outs, but the Rockford shortstop snagged a soft line drive in the 5-6 hole to end the threat.
Callie Selner threw a one-hit shutout
with 13 strikeouts.In the fourth inning, the Belles broke through with a four-run outburst. Caitlyn Migawa led off the inning with an opposite-field single, and Callie Selner drove a one-out double off the left field fence to put runners at second and third. Jillian Busfield singled to left field to plate Migawa and get Saint Mary's on the scoreboard. Cecily Reyes followed up Busfield with a single to center field to push Moranda Hegedus, who was pinch running for Selner, across for the second run of the inning.
Angela Dainelli was then hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Nina Vlahiotis delivered a two-run double to the right-center gap to put the Belles ahead 4-0.
The fifth inning started off similarly to the fourth for Saint Mary's with a lead off single by Migawa and a one-out double by Selner, but this time Migawa scored from second on the Selner double for the Belles' fifth run of the game. Reyes added a two-out hit, and Dainelli capped off the scoring in the inning with a two-out RBI single to the 5-6 hole to put Saint Mary's up 6-0.
The offensive support was more than enough for Selner in the circle. The senior took a no-hitter into the bottom of the sixth inning. After striking out the first Regent batter she faced, Selner saw her no-hitter denied by a one-out single find its way into left field just beyond the reach of Jackie Martinez at third base.
Selner responded by striking out the final four batters she faced to end the game with the one-hit shutout for her first pitching victory of the season. She matched her career-high strikeout total with 13 in the 6-0 win.
Caitlyn Migawa went 3-for-4 in the opener with two runs scored. Selner added a 2-for-4 effort with two doubles, an RBI, and a run scored. Cecily Reyes was 2-for-3 against Rockford with a run scored and an RBI.
Later in the day, the Belles faced off against Minnesota-Morris. The Cougars took the lead in the top of the first inning with a one-out double to left-center field.
Saint Mary's put a runner in scoring position in the bottom of the first after Moranda Hegedus hit a one-out single and stole second with two outs, but she ended the inning stranded at second.
Two innings later, Angela Villagomez tallied the first hit of her career with a single to right field to lead off the third. Hegedus dropped a double into left field to put Villagomez on third with two outs. Again, the pair were left on base as the Cougars escaped the threat.
Sarah Burke had a career-high 11
strikeout effort in a tough 1-0 loss.The Belles put together two solid efforts at plating the tying run in the sixth and seventh innings. Callie Selner led off the sixth with a pinch hit single to right field. Sarah Callis subbed back in to run and moved up 60 feet on a wild pitch. Callis then made it to third on an infield ground out, but the two-out rally came up short. In the seventh, Jackie Martinez kept the game alive with a two-out single and Villagomez drew a walk to put a pair on base. Yet again, the come-back effort fell short for the Belles.
Sarah Burke threw a solid game while shouldering the tough 1-0 loss in the circle. The sophomore recorded a career-best 11 strikeouts while surrendering one earned run on four hits.
Moranda Hegedus was 2-for-3 with a double, and Callie Selner, Jackie Martinez, and Angela Villagomez each added a hit for the Belles.
Saint Mary's (2-4) gets back on the field tomorrow morning when they take on Wentworth Institute at 9:00 a.m. and Bethany Lutheran at 11:00 a.m.