CLERMONT, Fla. – The Ursinus College softball team split two games for the third time in four days Friday, closing its spring trip to Florida with a record of 5-5.
The Bears got a brilliant pitching performance from sophomore Kaitlyn Willis and made it stand up with one offensive outburst to upend Ohio Wesleyan, 5-1, in the opener, but undefeated Wittenberg denied Ursinus a sweep of the day's action with an 8-3 verdict in the late-morning contest.
The Bears only had one scoring inning in Game One, but they made it count, putting up a five-spot in the second frame.
Ursinus loaded the bases with one out on singles by sophomore Rachel Hyman and freshman Brittany Gasser, as well as a walk to rookie Kayla Quinn. Freshman Sammi Donato broke a scoreless stalemate with an infield hit that plated Hyman, and fellow first-year Gabrielle Manto kept the line moving with a base knock to right.
Senior Zoe Heinke continued her run-producing prowess with a two-run single to left, and a dropped fly ball allowed the fifth and final run to score. By the time the dust settled, Ursinus had sent ten batters to the plate.
The Bears mustered only three hits the rest of the way, but with Willis dealing it hardly mattered. The right-hander took a shutout into the seventh, eventually allowing one run to score on a groundout before shutting the door on the Battling Bishops (1-6) for her fourth consecutive complete game. Willis (4-1) scattered five hits, struck out four, and walked just one.
Manto collected her second three-hit game of the week, scoring a run and driving in another to go with a double, and Hyman finished 2-for-3 with a run scored. Heinke's two RBIs gave her a third straight outing with at least two, already her fifth such performance of the young season.
Game Two pitted the Bears against a Wittenberg squad that came in having allowed only 13 runs in its first seven games of the season, including a 5-0 shutout of No. 19 Moravian earlier Saturday morning. Ursinus hung with the Tigers for a while, but a 15-hit barrage ultimately did them in.
Manto's two-run double brought about a 2-all tie in the top of the third, and Gasser answered a two-run bottom half for Wittenberg with an RBI single of her own in the fourth, getting the Bears to within 4-3. Ursinus was held to two hits the rest of the way, however, and Wittenberg added one run in the fourth and three in the sixth to pull away.
Donato went 2-for-3 and scored a run out of the leadoff spot, giving her a hit in all but one of the Bears' ten Florida games. Quinn smacked her first career double and scored.
Six different players registered multiple hits for the Tigers, who tagged Ursinus freshman Bridget Winay (0-2) for eight runs (seven earned) on 15 hits, including a two-run homer by Abby Baker in the sixth.
The rookie-laden Bears return to Collegeville with gaudy offensive numbers, having hit .318 as a team in the Sunshine State. Five different players hit at least .340 for Ursinus; freshman Callie Crouse posted a .400 average (12-for-30) seven RBI, Donato batted at a .378 clip (14-for-37) with 12 runs scored, and Heinke drove in a Centennial Conference-leading 16 runs on a .371 average (13-for-35) that included three doubles. Manto hit .343 with eight runs and seven RBI, and Quinn stands at .348 with nine runs scored.
Willis won four games on the mound, going 4-1 with a 3.97 ERA and 19 strikeouts; Heinke only earned a single victory, but registered a sparkling 2.72 ERA in three starts.
Ursinus opens the home portion of its schedule with a non-conference twin bill against Lebanon Valley on Tuesday, March 15.