FAIRMONT, W.Va. – In their first extra-inning contest of the year, Notre Dame College fell just short in a 2-1 loss to Fairmont State University. In game two, the Falcons lost 8-4, on Sunday.
Fairmont State (19-13, 13-5 MEC) got on the board after Haley McDaniel singled and stole second base, before scoring on an RBI single by Courtney Worcester, in the bottom of the third.
That lead held up until the fifth inning. Senior
Erin Calhoun led off with a single for NDC (14-20, 4-10 MEC) and senior
Taylor Olson singled, two batters later. With two outs, sophomore
Katelyn Rheude reached on a fielding error at first base, allowing Calhoun to score.
To begin the top of the 10th inning, a runner was placed on second base, per the extra inning rules. The Falcons were able to move freshman
Alexis Maciejowski to third with a bunt single by sophomore
Maria Payne. Payne went to second on a groundout, but NDC could not score the runners.
In the bottom of the 11th inning, FSU's Courtney Worcester singled, moving the runner to third base. Katlynn Foltz hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring the winning run.
Freshman
Rhianna Weall went 3-for-4 at the plate while senior
Halli Swiger had two hits in five at bats. Sophomore
McKenzie Zigmont (6-10) took a tough loss after pitching 10.1 innings, allowing just one earned run while striking out seven.
For Fairmont State, Hannah Absalom (12-4) got the win after throwing 11 innings and allowing one, unearned, run.
In game two, Fairmont State plated four runs in the bottom of the second inning. Heidi Hormell hit an RBI single to score one run and Foltz flew into a sacrifice fly, allowing two runs to score due to an error on the play. The final run came home on a ground out.
NDC responded almost immediately, tying the game at four in the top of the third inning. Rheude and freshman
Mikaela Fording stroked back-to-back doubles, both scoring a run. Weall singled to score Fording and then Swiger doubled to right center field, plating Weall. Swiger had two hits in the game and four hits over the double-header.
The Fighting Falcons regained the lead in the bottom of the inning. Fairmont State scored two runs on a pair of errors to pull ahead, 6-4.
FSU would score one run in both the fifth and sixth inning. In the game, four hitters had two hits for FSU.
The Falcons travel to Painesville, Ohio to play Lake Erie College on April 9. The two start times will be 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.