Winter Haven, Fla. — Wheaton softball battled in a pair of games Thursday afternoon as the team continued its week competing at The Spring Games in central Florida. In a marked difference from Tuesday's contests, the Thunder struggled to get things going from the plate, dropping their first contest of the day 1-0 in eight innings against Saint Vincent College, and their second game 6-0 against Penn St.-Brandywine.
The morning contest against St. Vincent was a partial pitchers' duel, as neither team scored through the first seven innings, forcing the game into extra innings. The fast-moving game wasn't without any offense, however, as Wheaton tallied six hits overall, compared with SVU's four. The difference in the end would come down to missed opportunities: Wheaton left nine runners on base in the contest — including two in the eighth frame — compared to five for St. Vincent.
Wheaton's first hit came in the top of the first inning, as
Paige Andrews knocked a two-out double down the left field line, but the Thunder were unable to convert the momentum for a run. Wheaton got on base in the top of the second inning as well, thanks to a single from
Abie Brown, but despite having that runner on base with no outs, the Thunder were again unable to get themselves on the scoreboard.
Elise O'Neil contributed a one-out double down the right field line in the fifth, but was unable to advance as a baserunner in the inning. In the bottom of that frame, the Bearcats advanced a runner as far a third base, but Wheaton held off SVU to keep the game scoreless headed into the sixth.
With a two-out single from
Alese Antonello followed by an
Abie Brown walk, the Thunder had two runners on base for their first time in the contest. Once again, however, Wheaton was unable to bring a baserunner home.
Isabel Hillyer recorded an infield single in the top of the seventh, but after a 1-2-3 inning from the Bearcats, Wheaton and SVU headed into extra innings with International rules in effect.
In its most active frame of the contest, Wheaton began the eighth with
Elizabeth Meyer on second base.
Olivia Nahorniak reached when she was hit by a pitch, and
Paige Andrews singled through the left side to give the Thunder bases loaded with no outs. Wheaton looked poised to give themselves a late-game lead and a chance to win, but Meyer was tagged out at home on an infield grounder from Antonello, and Nahorniak was tagged out at home after Brown was called out on an infield fly to third base.
In the bottom of the frame, St. Vincent quickly worked to end the game: the Bearcats moved their runner from second to third on a sacrifice bunt before winning in walk-off fashion with a single to center field.
Andrews led the Thunder from the plate, tallying two hits. Antonello, Brown, O'Neil, and Hillyer each added one.
Antonello pitched the entire game for Wheaton, allowing four hits and one run with just one walk and three strikeouts.
The heartbreak of an extra-inning loss proved a bit too much for Wheaton to overcome, as the Thunder were unable to rally in their second game of the day against Penn St.-Bradywine. As a team, Wheaton tallied five hits in the contest compared to Brandywine's seven, and left five runners on base compared to the Lions' 10 — but the spacing of those hits as well as some untimely defensive errors cost the Thunder, as they lost the contest 6-0.
In the third inning,
Madison Forberg gave Wheaton its first baserunner with a one-out single, but the Thunder were unable to convert for a run. The fourth inning looked promising to get Wheaton on the board, as Andrews led off by reaching first thanks to a PSB throwing error. She then advanced to second on a single from Antonello, and the Thunder found themselves with two runners aboard and no outs. Unfortunately, Antonello was doubled up on the next play when Meyer lined out to the Lions' first baseman, and a Chetakian fly out ended the inning.
Nahorniak added a single to center in the sixth inning, and Chetakian singled in the seventh as part of a mini-rally for the Thunder, but Brandywine turned a double play to close out the game and preserve the 6-0 victory.
Nahorniak tallied two hits to lead Wheaton at the plate, while Antonello, Chetakian, and Forberg each collected one.
Paige Andrews got the start in the circle for Wheaton and threw six innings. She recorded four strikeouts on the day but allowed five walks and six runs on seven hits.
Tiegan Hoffman pitched the final frame, giving up one walk and earning a strikeout.
Wheaton will close out its Spring Break trip Friday morning with a doubleheader against Marian University. Both games are scheduled to take place in Kissimmee, Fla., and are slated to start at 9:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.
