NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Saint Mary's softball team bounced back from a 6-5 setback in game one to take a 5-3 weather-shortened game two against Albion on Thursday.

 

Albion plated three runs in the top of the second inning of the opener with a two-out. bases loaded triple. The Belles came back with two runs in the bottom of the third. Leah Zimmerman was hit by a pitch with one out, and McKenna Shoupe drew a two-out, full-count walk to put two runners on base. Caitlin Traxler then drove a double to the warning track in center field to plate the pair and pull the Belles within one.

 

Both sides stranded a runner on base in the fourth before the Brits pushed a run across in the top of the fifth with a double and a sacrifice fly. Saint Mary's came right back in the bottom half of the inning. Leah Zimmerman singled to the 5-6 hole, and Mary Charniak laced a single to left field. McKenna Shoupe advanced the pair with a sacrifice bunt, and Rylee Hershberger used a two-out single to left-center field to drive in the two runners to make it a 4-4 game.

 

Albion regained the lead in the top of the sixth, but Saint Mary's came right back with a response in the bottom half of the inning. Alexis Rauch dropped a double just inside the left field line to lead off the inning. Sam Mikitka used a sacrifice bunt to move Rauch to third, and Leah Zimmerman punched a single into shallow left field to drive in Rauch to tie it up 5-5.

The Brits led off the top of the seventh with a solo home run to left field before the Belles retired the next three batters in order. Caitlin Traxler then led off the bottom of the seventh with a single as Madi Ingolia came in to pinch run. A fielder's choice forced Ingolia out at second, and Madi Minton came in to pinch run for Libby Bierbaum at first. A fly ball to the right-center gap, however, was reeled in by the Albion right fielder to end the chance at the comeback.

 

Mary Charniak went 3-for-4 in game one with a run scored. Caitlin Traxler went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, Alexis Rauch was 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored, and Leah Zimmerman went 2-for-2 with two runs scored and an RBI. Rylee Hershberger added a hit with two RBIs, and McKenna Shoup had a pair of sacrifice bunts, a walk, and scored a run. Libby Bierbaum went the distance in the circle and allowed just two earned runs with three strikeouts.

 

The doubleheader was delayed for nearly two hours due to lightning and thunderstorms in the area. Once game two got underway, the Belles jumped on the scoreboard early. McKenna Shoupe drew a one-out walk before stealing second base. Caitlin Traxler then drew a walk, and Rylee Hershberger used a single to left field to drive in Shoupe. Libby Bierbaum then drove a single to left field to drive in Traxler from second base for the 2-0 lead.

 

Albion plated a run in the bottom of the first inning with an RBI double. Saint Mary's, however, responded right away in the top of the second. Mary Charniak drove a double down the left field line and moved to third on a passed ball. McKenna Shoupe then used a sacrifice fly to center field to drive in Charniak for the 3-1 lead.

 

Leah Zimmerman made a highlight reel catch in right field by running down a deep fly ball and making the Willie Mays style basket catch to end the bottom of the second. The Belles used that energy to plate another run in the top of the third. Rylee Hershberger singled to lead things off, and Libby Bierbaum drew a walk. Alexis Rauch put down the sacrifice bunt to advance both runners, and McKenna Myers used a sacrifice fly to plate Hershberger.

After the Belles retired the Britons in order in the bottom of the third, another lightning strike from a pop-up thunderstorm led to another weather delay. A much shorter delay than the first, the teams resumed play within an hour. Neither team plated a run in the fourth while Albion pushed two runs across in the fifth to make it a 4-3 game. 

 

The Belles again had an answer in their next at-bats. McKenna Myers dropped a single down the left field line, and Madi Ingolia came in to pinch run. A pair of errors saw the Belles load the bases before a fielder's choice by McKenna Shoupe drove in Ingolia for the 5-3 lead.

 

Saint Mary's retired Albion in order in the bottom of the sixth. The Belles had one out in the bottom of the seventh when a booming rattle of thunder after another lightning strike halted the game. After conferring, the game was called. An official ruling on the statistics from the MIAA office will determine the length of the game as the Belles took the win having led by the 5-3 score after the last fully-completed inning of play.

 

Libby Bierbaum went 2-for-2 with two walks. Mary Charniak was 2-for-4 with a double and a triple, and Rylee Hershberger went 2-for-4. McKenna Myers added a hit. McKenna Shoupe tallied a pair of runs batted in while Bierbaum, Hershberger, and Myers each drove in a run for the Belles. Caitlin Traxler earned the win in the circle with a pair of strikeouts.

 

The Belles finish the season 10-22 overall and 5-11 in MIAA play.