Green Terror sweeps Bullets in double-header; Softball drops to second in Centennial Conference standings
By Bethany Holtz, Sports Editor
Senior Steph Zengel became the third player in Centennial Conference history to surpass 300 career total bases.
In the final road games of the regular season, McDaniel College swept the Gettysburg softball team in a twin-bill on Saturday.
The losses knocked the Bullets out of the top spot in conference standings and into a three-way tie with McDaniel and Haverford for second place, allowing Washington to slide into first place.
McDaniel won the opener 1-0 in walk-off fashion. The Green Terror then outlasted Gettysburg 10-7 in the slugfest of the second game.
Gettysburg sophomore pitcher Aileen Reilly and McDaniel first-year hurler Valerie Lamb were stingy with runs in the early game.
The Green Terror first threatened in the bottom of the second when sophomore Jamie Weisser roped a double to right field. A single and a stolen base by first-year Carly Deichman put Weisser in scoring position at third. A quick grab on a line drive to first, however, sent McDaniel back to the dugout with nothing to show for their efforts on the base paths.
Gettysburg generated some offense in the top of the sixth.
Junior Jamie Abell opened the inning with a single up the middle. A fielder’s choice sent sophomore Mykaela Twitchell to first and Abell back to the bench after being forced at second. Senior Steph Zengel singled through the left side, advancing Twitchell to second. Sophomore Wendy Folfas added a grounder toward the short stop, sending Zengel to second and erasing Twitchel.
The Bullets rally ended after a line out by senior Meghan Hisgen.
McDaniel scored all the runs they would need in the seventh when junior Ally Galati crossed the plate on a single from first-year Payton Lewis to end the game.
The loss dropped the Bullet’s star pitcher to a respectable 13-6 for the year. Reilly struck out seven and allowed only one run on eight hits.
The Green Terror jumped out to a six run lead in the first inning of the nightcap.
A double by Weisser brought in the first two runs.
Junior Taylor Fletcher brought in the next after getting hit by a pitch. A single by junior Caitlin Justice and a double to left field by sophomore Lindsey Miller added three more runs.
McDaniel picked up another run in the second to bump the score to 7-0.
Gettysburg answered with four runs in the third. Unfortunately for the Bullets, the Green Terror padded their lead in the bottom of the inning, moving the score to 9-4.
The Bullets’ Twitchell blasted her team-best fourth home run to right field in the top of the fifth.
McDaniel answered with a run to close out the inning 10-5 in favor of the host team.
Gettysburg attempted a comeback with an RBI by junior Sam Misurell in the sixth and a home run from Zengel in the seventh, but the effort was not enough to close the gap.
After a productive day at the plate, Zengel became only the third player in Centennial Conference history to surpass 300 career total bases, going 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI in the nightcap.
Saturday’s losses left Gettysburg at 22-10 for the season, with a record of 9-5 in conference play.
Though the loss to McDaniel set the lady Bullets back in the standings, the optimism and attitude of the team has not faltered.
“Our team is coming off of a couple tough losses, which will motivate us to be resilient and determined in the final two games of our regular season. I personally believe we have a great deal of talent on this team, and I look forward to being in the circle surrounded by my teammates each time we are out there” said Reilly.
Gettysburg will look to capitalize on that talent and motivation as they head into the final games of the season.
With playoffs just around the corner, the team says that their the best is yet to come.
“We are confident about our ability as a team and feel as though our best softball is ahead of us, going into the playoffs,” said Folfas.
The Bullets will close out the regular season Saturday, April 30 at home with a doubleheader against Haverford beginning at 1:00PM.
