NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Saint Mary's softball team had contributions from the entire lineup as the Belles defeated Adrian 11-3 (5 innings) in game one and 13-4 (5 innings) in game two of a conference doubleheader on Saturday.

 

The Bulldogs struck first in their first at-bats of the day with a run on three consecutive hits. Mandi Hettinger and the defense dug in, and the senior pitcher induced a flyout, an infield groundout, and another flyout to shut down the Adrian offense. 

 

Saint Mary's responded in a big way in the bottom half of the inning as the Belles erupted for six runs. Mac Pepper led off with a single up the middle, and Alexis Rauch and McKenna Myers hit back-to-back doubles to push two runs across home plate. Caitlin Traxler pushed a single through the left side of the defense, and a bobble on the play allowed Myers to score. Mandi Hettinger helped her own cause with a single, and McKenna Shoupe drove in Hettinger and Traxler with a triple. Libby Bierbaum used a sacrifice fly to right field to plate Shoupe as the Belles claimed the 6-1 lead. Natalie Quinlan kept the inning going with a single, but back-to-back outs kept the tally at six in the opening frame.

 

Adrian put another run on the scoreboard in the top of the third with back-to-back doubles of their own before plating a run in the top of the fourth with a sacrifice fly. The defense again shut down the Bulldogs' attempts of stringing together multiple runs as Hettinger again induced an infield groundout with runners on second and third to end the top half of the fourth. Grace Renschen led off the bottom of the fourth with a double, and Mac Pepper dropped a single into center field before another bobble allowed Renschen to score. 

 

A diving catch by McKenna Shoupe in center field led to the end of the inning as the Belles used an appeal and got the third out on a runner leaving early before properly tagging up. Saint Mary's carried that momentum into the bottom of the fifth inning. Shoupe drew a lead-off walk, Libby Bierbaum singled to right field, and a double steal moved the pair into scoring position. Natalie Quinlan drew a walk to load the bases as Maddie James came in to pinch run. Grace Renschen drew a walk to drive in Shoupe, and Alexis Rauch ended the game two batters later with a bases-clearing double for the 11-3 win.

 

McKenna Shoupe was 2-for-2 with a triple, two RBI, two runs, and a walk in the opener. Alexis Rauch went 2-for-3 at the dish with two doubles, four RBI, a run, and a walk. Caitlin Traxler and Mac Pepper each registered two hits and scored a run. Grace Renschen hit a double, walked once, and scored twice. Mandi Hettinger, McKenna Myers, Libby Bierbaum, and Natalie Quinlan each had a hit as each batter in the Belles' starting lineup had at least one hit. Hettinger picked up the pitching win after going four complete and scattering three runs. Grace Renschen threw an inning in the circle for the Belles and allowed just one hit.

 

Neither team was able to get their offense rolling early on in game two. The Belles' defense got out of a jam in the bottom of the second. Shoupe snagged a fly ball with runners on first and second, and Libby Bierbaum shut the door with a strikeout.

 

Saint Mary's then broke through in the top of the third. Grace Renschen led off with a single, and Natalie Quinlan advanced Renschen with a sacrifice bunt. Mac Pepper reached on a single to third base to keep building the momentum. Pepper swiped second base to put two runners into scoring position, and Alexis Rauch pushed a single through the left side to score Renschen. Rauch then stole second, and the throw, which would not have gotten Rauch out on the play, tailed high and into the outfield to allow Pepper to score. Two batters later, Caitlin Traxler drove in Rauch with a single to five the Belles a 3-0 lead.

 

Another strikeout in the bottom of the third by Bierbaum forced the Bulldogs into stranding a runner on second, and the bats continued to come up big for the Belles as Saint Mary's added four runs in the fourth. Renschen started a two-out rally with a single, and an error kept the inning alive as Quinlan reached first base safely. Mac Pepper beat out another infield single as Renschen scored from second base on the play. Maddie James made another pinch running appearance, and Alexis Rauch drove in James from second with a single to right field. A wild pitch allowed Pepper to score from third, and an errant throw on the play saw Rauch slide in safely for a 7-0 lead for the Belles.

 

Adrian used a two-out, pinch-hit double to score a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Saint Mary's had an answer yet again with a six-run outburst in the top of the fifth. Mandi Hettinger led off with a stand-up triple - the first triple of her collegiate career - to bring the energy back to the Belles' dugout. McKenna Shoupe laced a single through the left side of the defense to easily score Hettinger. An error saw Libby Bierbaum reach base while Shoupe moved to second on the play. Shoupe swiped third base, and Grace Renschen belted a double to right field to score Shoupe. Pepper collected another infield single to load the bases, and Rauch used a single to score Renschen. Myers then delivered a double over the right fielder to drive in Quinlan and Pepper on the play to give Saint Mary's a 13-2 lead.

 

McKenna Grigoli came on in relief and quickly collected two outs with Anna Gruber making a solid defensive play at third before Grigoli wrung up a strikeout. The Bulldogs did not go down without a fight as a walk and an error led to a two-run double, but Grigoli induced a pop up to Myers at shortstop to close out the inning and the game.

 

Rauch was 4-for-4 with three RBI and two runs while Renschen went 3-for-3 in game two with a double, three runs, and an RBI. Pepper had a 3-for-4 effort at the plate with three runs and an RBI. Mandi Hettinger hit the first triple of her collegiate career, McKenna Myers belted a double with two RBI, and McKenna Shoupe had a hit, scored a run, and drove in a run. Natalie Quinlan and Caitlin Traxler each collected a hit and drove in a run while Quinlan scored a run. Libby Bierbaum collected the game-two victory in the circle after allowing two runs in four innings of work with six strikeouts. McKenna Grigoli closed out the final inning and struck out a batter.

 

The Belles (8-11, 4-6 MIAA) have a break from conference competition when they travel to the University of Chicago on Wednesday for a doubleheader starting at 3:00 p.m. CDT.