GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Saint Mary's softball team battled from start to finish in a pair of close setbacks against No. 24 Calvin by 4-3 and 10-6 final scores.

 

Mary Charniak led off the top of the first with a single to center field, and a sacrifice bunt by McKenna Shoupe pushed Charniak to second. The freshman tagged up on a fly out to right field, and Rylee Hershberger drew a walk to put runners at the corners. Saint Mary's was unable to capitalize on the chance as a groundout ended the inning. The Knights used a single and a double to get a run in the bottom of the first for an early lead.

Saint Mary's responded in the top of the second. Alexis Rauch hit a lead-off single to left field, and Madi Ingolia used a well-placed two-out infield single. The throw to try to get the speedy freshman out veered off target, allowing Rauch to come in to score. Mary Charniak had a hard-hit infield single to keep the inning alive before a strikeout ended the at-bats.

 

The Knights plated three runs in the bottom of the third inning, but a solid defensive play while battling the wind saw the Belles force Calvin into stranding a pair of runners on base. Saint Mary's again came right back in their next at-bats. Alexis Rauch led off with a single, and Sam Mikitka used a hard-hit ball to single through the left side. Leah Zimmerman put down the sacrifice bunt to move the pair up, and Mary Charniak drove a hard single to left field to drive in the pair as the Knights opted to take out reigning national pitcher of the week.

 

After retiring the Knights in order in the fourth, the defense came up big as Madi Ingolia pulled in a fly out in left field to force Calvin into stranding a runner on third in the fifth. Sam Mikitka then laced a one-out single up the middle as Madi Minton came in to pinch run. A ground out the opposite way allowed Minton to advance to third, but another infield out stopped the chance at tying the ballgame short. Mary Charniak reached on an error to start the top of the seventh, and McKenna Shoupe used a sacrifice bunt to move the freshman to second. Another ground out moved Charniak to third, but the Belles could not push the tying run across in the closely-played 4-3 final.

 

Mary Charniak went 3-for-4 with two RBI in game one for the Belles. Sam Mikitka was 2-for-2 at the plate with a run and a sacrifice fly, and Alexis Rauch went 2-for-3 with two runs scored. McKenna Shoupe had a pair of sacrifices, and Madi Ingolia had a hit and drove in a run. Libby Bierbaum went the distance in the circle and matched her career-high mark with seven strikeouts.

 

Caitlin Traxler hit a one-out single in the bottom of the first but was stranded to start off the Saint Mary's offensive chances. The Knights put two runs on the scoreboard in the top of the second before Mary Charniak battled a big gust of wind to track down a pop up to end the inning. Calvin then plated three runs in the top of the third to gain a 5-0 lead, but the Belles came storming back in the bottom of the inning. Charniak continued to find success at the dish with a one-out single to right field. The speedy McKenna Shoupe then beat out an infield single, and Caitlin Traxler drew a walk to load the bases. Rylee Hershberger drove the left-center gap for a double to drive in both Charniak and Shoupe. Libby Bierbaum then used a sacrifice fly to drive in Traxler. After a pitching change by the Knights, Alexis Rauch reached on an error while driving in Hershberger on the play to pull the Belles within a run at 5-4.

 

The Knights countered with three runs in their next at-bats before Sam Mikitka wrung up a strikeout on a change up to end the top half of the inning. In the top of the fifth, Libby Bierbaum made a diving stop across her body and flipped the ball to Charniak for a force out at third. The Knights plated a pair of runs before another solid defensive play by Bierbaum gave Saint Mary's their second out of the inning. Mary Charniak then made a leaping snag on a line drive bound for the outfield for the third out of the inning. 

 

Alexis Rauch tried to get things going with a two-out single, and a wild pitch allowed the junior to advance to second base. Another wild pitch saw Sam Mikitka draw a walk with Rauch moving to third base. A ground out, however, left the Belles empty-handed as the game moved to the sixth inning. 

 

Leah Zimmerman made a solid catch in right field after the Calvin lead-off batter reached first base, and back-to-back fly ball catches in right field by Zimmerman ended the inning defensively. In the bottom of the inning, Mary Charniak laced a single to right field before a single up the middle by McKenna Shoupe put a pair of runners on base. Caitlin Traxler dropped a single into center field, which allowed Charniak to score while moving Shoupe to third as the Knights opted for another pitching change. Traxler swiped second base to put two runners in scoring position. McKenna Shoupe took advantage of a bad throw back to the pitcher after a strikeout to score to make it a 10-6 game going into the seventh.

 

Defensively, the Belles got the stop they needed. Mary Charniak got the first batter out with a play at shortstop, and Madi Ingolia cut down a runner at third for a force out before snagging a fly ball in left field to end the top half of the inning. The Belles, however, were unable to put together the seventh-inning rally in a 10-6 final.

 

Mary Charniak, McKenna Shoupe, and Caitlin Traxler each posted two hits in game two. Charniak and Shoupe each scored twice, and Traxler had a stolen base and came across home to score once. Rylee Hershberger laced a double and drove in a pair while scoring a run. Alexis Rauch had a hit and an RBI, Sam Mikitka tallied a hit, and Libby Bierbaum drove in a run for the Belles. Traxler was taxed with the loss in the circle after going three complete and striking out a pair. Mikitka closed out the final four innings and struck out one.

 

The Belles (8-20, 4-10 MIAA) have a break from conference play as they travel to Elmhurst for a doubleheader starting at 1:00 p.m. CDT on Sunday.