April 26, 2015

Grove City drops home finale

GROVE CITY, Pa. -- The Grove City College softball team closed the home portion of its 2015 schedule Saturday afternoon by dropping a Presidents' Athletic Conference doubleheader to visiting Thiel at College Field. Thiel (16-16, 9-9 PAC) earned an 8-6 win in the opener and then rallied for a 6-3 victory in the second game.

In Game One, Grove City took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the first when freshman third baseman Brenna Lent (Pittsburgh, Pa./Hampton) singled in senior shortstop Kelsey Shirey (Macedonia, Ohio/Nordonia). Earlier in the inning, Shirey belted a game-tying two-run triple.

Thiel scored single runs in the third and fourth innings to take the lead for good, however. Grove City cut Thiel's lead to 6-4 in the fifth when sophomore pitcher Erika Aughton (Moon Township, Pa./Moon) singled in freshman DP Lauren Hughes (Twinsburg, Ohio/Cuyahoga Valley Christian).

In the seventh, senior center fielder Caitlyn Vidovic (North Ridgeville, Ohio/Lutheran West) led off with a double and later scored on an error. Senior second baseman Allison Rayburn (New Kensington, Pa./Valley) also scored on the error, closing the scoring.

Aughton went 2 for 4 to lead Grove City's seven-hit effort. She also took the pitching setback after allowing five earned runs in seven innings.

Grove City jumped out a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third in Game Two as Shirey tripled in Aughton while senior catcher Sarah Morris (Allison Park, Pa./Hampton) followed with a run-scoring double. Thiel rallied with four runs in the sixth and scored twice more in the seventh, though.

Rayburn doubled in the seventh and eventually scored on an error. Aughton also doubled while going 2 for 4 for Grove City (16-12, 8-9 PAC). Shirey finished 2 for 3.

Sophomore pitcher Katie Watts (Sandy Lake, Pa./Lakeview) took the defeat after allowing two earned runs in seven innings. She struck out three and did not walk a batter.

Prior to Saturday's games, Grove City recognized senior right fielder Erica Gmuer (Gibsonia, Pa./Hampton), Morris, Rayburn, Shirey and Vidovic as part of Senior Day festivities. Gmuer, Morris, Rayburn and Shirey are all four-year starters for Grove City while Vidovic is a three-year starter and four-year letterwinner.

Saturday's losses eliminated Grove City from contention for a berth in next week's conference tournament. The Wolverines are scheduled to visit La Roche in non-conference play Monday afternoon.

Game One Box Score        Game Two Box Score

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