April 12, 2014
Grove City loses twice at W&J
WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Grove City College softball team lost a pair of close games at Washington and Jefferson in Presidents' Athletics Conference action on Saturday afternoon at Brooks Park. The Wolverines dropped Game One, 2-0, before falling 8-6 in the nightcap.
Grove City (4-17, 0-10 PAC) managed just four hits in the game one loss. Junior outfielder Caitlin Vidovic (North Ridgeville, Ohio/Lutheran West) went 2-for-3 while sophomore outfielder Megan Lynskey (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) added a double.
Freshman pitcher Erika Aughton (Moon Township, Pa./Moon) had a strong performance on the mound in the loss, allowing just six hits and two runs (one earned) over six innings.
After the game one pitchers' duel, the offenses came alive in game two for 23 hits and 14 runs.
The Presidents (14-6, 8-2 PAC) took an early 2-0 lead in the first top of the first inning, but the Wolverines, playing as the home team in the second team, cut the deficit to 2-1 in the bottom of the 2nd when freshman Katie Watts (Sandy Lake, Pa./Lakeview) singled to right field and later came home to score on a wild pitch.
W&J would score a run in the top of the third and add another in the top of the 5th to stretch their lead to 4-1 through five and a half innings. Grove City would respond in the bottom of the sixth, as both Lynskey and Aughton singled to set up a game-tying three-run home run by junior shortstop Kelsey Shirey (Macedonia, Ohio/Nordonia).
After a pitching change by the Presidents, freshman third baseman Alaina Kunselman (New Bethlehem, Pa./Redbank Valley) and junior outfielder Erica Gmuer (Gibsonia, Pa./Hampton) would each hit two-out singles, setting up an RBI-single to right field for junior catcher Sarah Morris (Allison Park, Pa./Hampton) that scored Kunselman to give the Wolverines a 5-4 lead.
That lead would be short-lived, as W&J used four hits and a Wolverine error to score four runs in the top of the seventh to retake the lead at 8-5.
The Wolverines would make one last effort in the bottom of the seventh, closing the gap to 8-6 when junior second baseman Allison Rayburn (New Kensington, Pa./Valley) singled and later scored on an Aughton single, but the Presidents would record the final two outs to end the game.
Freshman Aimee Wootton (Weiser, Idaho/Weiser) took the loss in relief, allowing four runs on two hits and two walks in two and one third innings. Watts started the game, allowing eight hits and three runs in four innings of action.
Grove City returns to action on Tuesday, hosting Waynesburg in a PAC doubleheader at 3:30 p.m.
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