ATHENS, W.Va. – In a long day of softball, it took extra innings to decide both games of a doubleheader between Notre Dame College and Concord University. NDC took the lead early in both games and got the win in game one by a score of 4-3. Concord battled back in game two and won on a walk-off homer, 8-6.
Notre Dame's offense had scored three runs and pitcher
Grace Fisher had struck out seven in the first three innings of game one.
Fisher struck out the side in both the first and third innings and had one more in the second. She now has 153 K's on the season.
The Falcons rallied with two out in the second inning to score a run. Freshman
Kaitlyn Mazzocca singled, freshman
Jocelyn Quior walked and junior
Ella Collinsworth put an RBI single into right field.
Again, with two out and bases clear, Notre Dame found a way to add two runs in the third inning. Freshman
Avery Robinson and senior
Meadow Odum both singled and then sophomore
Danielle Fick singled to center field, scoring both runs to put the Falcons up 3-0.
Concord scored one run on a solo home run in the fourth inning and tied the game with two runs in the fifth. The Mountain Lions had runners first and second base, with two out in the bottom of the seventh, but did not score the winning run.
Fisher went 4 2/3 innings, before senior
Madison Olszewski came into the game for 1/3 of an inning. Junior
Allison Weilnau then closed out the game by pitching the final three frames. She did not allow a run and got the win.
The Falcons took the lead back with another clutch pinch-hit by senior
Mia Cipriano in the eighth inning. After Odum led off with a single, and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, Cipriano singled into right field for an RBI and that allowed NDC to take a 4-3 lead.
Robinson, Odum and Collinsworth all had two hits in the game.
Right away in game two, Notre Dame took a 3-0 lead. In the top of the first, senior
Katelyn DeWeese tripled to lead off the contest and then scored on a wild pitch. Robinson doubled and then Odum singled. A fielder's choice off the bat of Fick scored one and then a Mazzocca groundout scored a third run.
With back-to-back singles and a sacrifice bunt, Concord had runners on second and third, with one out in the bottom of the first. Weilnau, who started game two, got out of the jam without allowing a run. She then set the Mountain Lions down in order in both the second and third inning.
Concord put one run on the board in the bottom of the fourth, but NDC expanded its lead in the top of fifth. With bases loaded in the fifth, Cipriano was hit by pitch to bring a run home and then Collinsworth singled into right center field to score two runs, which gave Notre Dame a 6-1 lead.
But, CU never went away. The home team put up three runs in the fifth inning and two runs in the sixth to tie the game at six.
The Falcons had runners on second and third base, with one out, in the top of the eighth, but could not get the go-ahead run to touch home plate. Concord hit a two-run walk-off homer in the bottom of the inning to win it.
DeWeese, Robinson and Collinsworth had two hits in game two. Both Robinson and Collinsworth totaled four hits over the two games on Sunday, while Odum had three.
Notre Dame will close out the regular season at home, next weekend. The Falcons battle Wheeling University, on April 26, at 2 and 4 p.m.
