JAN PHYL VILLAGE, Fla. - The Saint Mary's softball team claimed a 6-2 win over Ohio Northern before shouldering a 6-4 setback against St. Scholastica on Thursday.

 

The Belles broke through in a big way in the top of the first. Rylee Hershberger drew a one-out walk, and Caitlin Traxler continued to have a hot bat at the dish with a home run to right field for a quick 2-0 lead. The defense got out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the first, and Saint Mary's capitalized on Ohio Northern mistakes in the top of the second. Libby Bierbaum reached on an error to start the inning, and Mandi Hettinger laced a single up the middle. A wild pitch saw the pair advance into scoring position, and a Maddie James single through the left side drove in Bierbaum as Hettinger moved to third. Two batters later, Mac Pepper used a sacrifice fly to drive in Hettinger for a 4-0 lead. 

 

A three-up, three-down defensive half of the second put Saint Mary's back up to bat quickly. Caitlin Traxler led off with a single up the middle, and Alexis Rauch used a sacrifice bunt to move Traxler to second. McKenna Myers dropped a double down the left field line to plate Traxler. Libby Bierbaum was then hit by a pitch, but the Belles left a pair of runners on base to end the inning. The Polar Bears broke into the scoring column in the bottom of the third with a one-out run, and Ohio Northern added a two-out RBI double in the fourth to cut into the Saint Mary's lead at 5-2. Both sides were retired in order in the fifth before the Belles got a run back in the sixth. Mac Pepper reached on an error by the Polar Bears' third baseman, and Maddie James scored on the play with two outs gone to give Saint Mary's a 6-2 lead. 

 

The defense came through in a big way in the sixth inning. The Polar Bears loaded the bases with just one out gone. Libby Bierbaum dialed in a huge strikeout for the second out before Maddie James pulled in a fly out in left field to end the threat. Ohio Northern put a runner on base in the seventh, but the defense again shut down the Polar Bears. Bierbaum induced an infield pop up before shutting the door on the game with a strikeout to preserve the 6-2 win.

 

Mandi Hettinger was 2-for-3 at the plate with a run, and Caitlin Traxler was 2-for-4 with a home run, two RBIs, and two runs scored. McKenna Myers had a double and drove in a run, and Maddie James had a hit, scored a run, and drove in a run. Mac Pepper registered a hit and an RBI, and Libby Bierbaum and Rylee Hershberger each scored once. Bierbaum posted the complete-game victory in the circle with two runs over seven innings and seven strikeouts.

 

In the second game of the day, St. Scholastica used a two-out rally to score a pair of unearned runs in the top of the first inning. The Belles answered with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the stanza. Rylee Hershberger hit a one-out double, and Caitlin Traxler walked to put a pair of runners on base. A Mandi Hettinger walk loaded the bases before McKenna Myers drove in Hershberger with a single through the left side. Alexis Rach then drove in Traxler with a sacrifice fly to knot the score. Another two-out rally by the Saints put St. Scholastica up 4-2 through an inning and a half of play. The Belles loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the second but were unable to break through. Another bases-loaded scenario for Saint Mary's in the bottom of the fourth did not yield any runs as the score stood at 4-2 in favor of St. Scholastica.

 

The score remained unchanged until the top of the sixth inning. With a runner on second, the Saints used an error to push across a run before a sacrifice fly gave St. Scholastica two big runs to extend their lead to 6-2. The Belles were retired in order in the sixth but forced the Saints into stranding a runner in scoring position in the seventh. Down to their final at-bats, Caitlin Traxler and Mandi Hettinger drew back-to-back walks to start the inning. A fielder's choice got Traxler out at third while an error on the play moved Hettinger to third and McKenna Myers to second. Alexis Rauch drove in Hettinger, and Libby Bierbaum had a two-out single to right field to drive in Myers. The comeback for Saint Mary's, however, was halted there as the Belles came up short in the 6-4 final.

 

Rylee Hershberger was 2-for-3 at the plate with a double, a walk, and a run. Caitlin Traxler drew four walks and scored a run, and Mandi Hettinger drew two walks and scored once. McKenna Myers had a hit, a run, and an RBI, and Libby Bierbaum added a hit and an RBI. Alexis Rauch drove in a pair while Mac Pepper and Maddie James each had a hit. Hettinger had the setback in the circle after going the distance and scattering seven hits over seven innings with three earned runs, five strikeouts, and no walks allowed.

 

The Belles (3-5) are set to close out their slate of Florida competition on Friday when they take on Nichols and Framingham State at 11:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., respectively.