SALISBURY, Md. – Taking the field just a day after returning from their spring trip to Myrtle Beach, the Ursinus College softball team split a Saturday doubleheader at Salisbury on the first day of the Salisbury Invitational.
The Bears broke out for 13 hits in an 8-6 victory in the opener, but the bats fell silent with only two in a 10-4 Game 2 defeat.
Sophomores Callie Crouse and Sammi Donato racked up three hits apiece for the afternoon and were two of five players with at least two in the first game for Ursinus (4-6), which picked up an impressive victory against a Salisbury squad that went 37-6 and reached the final game of an NCAA Tournament regional a year ago; the Sea Gulls (6-8) received votes in the NFCA Division III poll to start the season.
Game 1: Ursinus 8, Salisbury 6
Two-out hitting and contributions up and down the lineup defined the Bears' Game 1 victory. Ursinus trailed 2-0 after three innings before its bats awakened, starting with a four-run outburst in the fourth. Donato's one-out double ignited the crooked number, and Crouse's base hit through the left side brought Donato around with the Bears' first run.
After a grounder for the second out, four straight Ursinus batters reached base. LeClerc kept the rally alive with a single, putting Bears on second and third after a throwing error by the Sea Gulls' center fielder. Manto brought both to the plate with a base hit to left and, after Quinn drew a walk, Dewes lined an RBI single into right-center to give Ursinus a 4-2 lead.
Salisbury drew level on back-to-back RBI singles by Leanne Collins and Brooke Yerger, but Ursinus came right back in the top of the fifth, going back up on LeClerc's two-out, two-run single set up by an error a few batters prior. The Sea Gulls pulled a run back in the fifth, making it a 6-5 game.
The Bears kept the home side at arm's length with two runs in the seventh, the second on a two-out RBI single by Donato, and relied on junior pitcher Kaitlyn Willis to avert danger in the sixth and seventh innings to lock up the win. The Sea Gulls put their first two aboard in the sixth, but Willis sandwiched two strikeouts around a fly-out to keep them off the board. Salisbury had runners on second and third with one out in its last at-bat, but Willis induced a sacrifice fly for the second out and closed the door with a strikeout of Collins, who had been 3-for-4 to that point.
Five different Bears had at least two hits, led a 3-for-4 performances from Donato, who had two doubles and an RBI. Crouse was 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI, while LeClerc and Manto each finished 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run. Dewes was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.
Willis (3-2) battled all afternoon for a complete game victory, allowing six runs (five earned) on ten hits. Willis walked three but struck out eight, several of them in massive spots.
The Bears scored six runs off Shannon Powell (2-1) in five innings, handing Powell her first loss of the year.
Game 2: Salisbury 10, Ursinus 4
Salisbury raced out to a 4-0 lead on Collins' bases-clearing triple and Yerger's RBI single in the top of the second. Ursinus trimmed the deficit in half with two runs in the bottom half, getting within 4-2 on freshman Marissa Beebe's bases-loaded walk.
The Sea Gulls tallied one in the third, two in the fourth, and three more in the seventh to open up a 10-2 lead. Ursinus scored twice in the bottom of the seventh, taking advantage of two errors, but it was too little and too late.
Collins continued her hot hitting with three more hits and five RBI from the leadoff spot in support of Rachael Milligan, who allowed four unearned runs and two hits in tossing a complete game.
Quinn and Crouse had the only hits of the nightcap for Ursinus. Freshman Jennifer Hammons hurled a complete game of her own, but was charged with eight earned runs on nine hits and was damaged by six walks.
Up Next
The Bears take on Lynchburg in a twin bill Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.