NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. - The Saint Mary's softball team had their bats rise up to meet them on a Saint Patrick's Day sweep of Manchester in 8-7 and 10-3 wins on Thursday. 

 

The Belles took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning of the opener against the Spartans. Alexis Rauch led off with a hit through the left side. A bunt by Anna Gruber found its way past the defense as Rauch came all the way around to score on the play. The Spartans responded with two runs in the bottom of the third and two in the fifth for a 4-1 lead.

 

Saint Mary's gained a lot of momentum with a six-run outburst in the top of the sixth inning. McKenna Myers led off with a single to center field, and Mandi Hettinger dropped a double down the left field line to drive in Myers. Rauch added a single to center field to put runners on the corners for the Belles. After a four-way defensive switch by Manchester, Gruber laced a single down the right field line to plate Hettinger as Rauch moved to third. Gruber put herself into scoring position, and McKayla Noecker put the ball in play and reached on an error while Rauch scored. A strikeout and a ground out fielder's choice put two outs on the scoreboard, but the Belles were not done yet. Mac Pepper drew a walk to load the bases, and an error by the left fielder saw Noecker, McKenna Shoupe, and Pepper all score on the play for a 7-4 lead for Saint Mary's.

 

The Spartans, however, used some timely hits in the bottom of the sixth to knot the game back up at 7-7. Saint Mary's responded in the top of the seventh with a two-out rally. Anna Gruber got things going with a double to left-center field, and an error on a dropped third strike allowed Natalie Quinlan to reach first base as Gruber moved to third on the play. McKenna Grigoli then singled up the middle to plate Gruber with the go-ahead run. Defensively, Grigoli drew back-to-back ground outs to put the Belles an out away from the win before a walk put the potential tying run on base and the potential game-winning run at the plate. Grigoli, however, induced a pop up to shortstop by the next batter to secure the win.

 

Alexis Rauch went 3-for-4 with two runs, and Anna Gruber added a 3-for-4 effort at the plate with a run, a double, and an RBI in the opener for the Belles. Mandi Hettinger posted a 2-for-4 showing at the dish with a double, a run, and an RBI. McKenna Shoupe and McKenna Myers each tallied a hit and scored a run, and McKenna Grigoli registered a hit and an RBI. Mac Pepper and McKayla Noecker each scored once in the win. Grigoli picked up her third pitching win in as many appearances after closing out the final two innings in the circle with just one run allowed. Grace Renschen had a no decision effort over the opening five innings for the Belles in the opener.

 

Game two saw the Belles lead from start to finish as Saint Mary's plated a pair in the top of the first. Mac Pepper and Caitlin Traxler had back-to-back one-out singles to stir the pot. Mandi Hettinger then drove in Pepper from second with a single to right field, and Alexis Rauch doubled the lead with a single to left field to push Traxler across home plate. The offense continued an inning later as McKenna Shoupe had a two-out single in the second and stole second base before Mac Pepper drew a walk to put two on base. Traxler then drove in the pair with a double to right-center field for a 4-0 advantage.

 

The Spartans got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second, but Saint Mary's came right back with a four-run third inning. Alexis Rauch led off with a double and moved to third on a passed ball. Anna Gruber drew a walk but was out on a fielder's choice by Libby Bierbaum as Rauch scored on the play. Winnie Tomsheck dropped a single down the right field line to put runners on the corners, and McKenna Shoupe drove in Bierbaum on an infield groundout. Pepper used a single and advanced on the throw to put two runners into scoring position with two outs gone. Traxler continued to have the hot bat at the dish in game two as the junior hit a single up the middle to score Tomsheck. McKenna Myers then added a single of her own to plate Pepper for the 8-1 advantage.

 

Manchester chipped away with a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, but the Belles limited the damage after two errors on defense to maintain an 8-3 lead. McKenna Shoupe had a one-out single in the fifth and scored two batters later on a Caitlin Traxler single. The defense shut down a scoring chance for the Spartans in the bottom half of the inning as Libby Bierbaum coaxed a pop up and a ground out to strand leave the bases loaded for Manchester. The Belles pushed another run across in the top of the sixth after Alexis Rauch hit a one-out triple and scored on a ground out by Anna Gruber for a 10-3 advantage. McKenna Grigoli then shut the door on the Spartans with back-to-back pop ups as Manchester left runners on second and third in the bottom of the sixth, and a three-up, three-down bottom of the seventh with a trio of infield pop ups ended the game. 

 

Caitlin Traxler went 4-for-4 with four RBI, a double, and a run to pace the offensive efforts. Alexis Rauch was 3-for-4 at the plate with two runs, a double, a triple, and an RBI. McKenna Shoupe added a pair of hits, two runs, and an RBI while Mac Pepper posted two hits and scored three runs. McKenna Myers tallied two hits with an RBI. Winnie Tomsheck had a hit and scored a run, Mandi Hettinger added a hit and an RBI, and Anna Gruber drove in a run. Libby Bierbaum earned the pitching win after allowing just one earned run without surrendering an extra-base hit and striking out one over five innings of work. McKenna Grigoli closed out the final two innings and allowed just one hit while facing eight batters.

 

The Belles (4-5) are set for their home opener next Wednesday, March 23 when they host North Park for a doubleheader starting at 4:00 p.m.