COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Kaitlyn Willis produced another strong pitching performance and the Ursinus College softball team capitalized on a number of miscues to give the Bears a win in the opener of Monday's home opener against Delaware Valley, which held on for a tight victory in the nightcap to steal a split.
Wills struck out a season-high nine batters and surrendered just five hits to propel the Bears (8-4) to an 8-1 victory, stretching their longest winning streak in eight years to eight. Despite a leadoff home run from freshman Morgan Comfort, who went 4-for-7 with two RBI on the day, the home side was unable to break through in the second game.
Game 1: Ursinus 8, Delaware Valley 1
Both teams had just five hits in this one, but the Aggies (6-4) committed five errors in the first three innings to giftwrap a big early lead for Ursinus. After a scoreless first, the Bears put up two runs in the second and third innings and three more in the third.
A fielding error, walk, and hit batter loaded the bases with one out in the second, and senior Rachel Hyman's fielder's choice grounder plated the game's first run. Comfort added another on an infield single, plating junior Callie Crouse.
Junior Samantha Garritano reached on an error to open the third, and the Bears had runners on second and third with two outs when the Delaware Valley first baseman dropped Crouse's soft liner and threw wide of the bag for a two-run miscue.
Junior Faith Carson had RBI singles in the fourth and sixth, ultimately finishing 3-for-4 with a run scored. Comfort was 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI, while Garritano and freshman Heather Lazer each scored twice.
Willis (4-2) was clinically efficient, throwing 76 of her 101 pitches for strikes. She walked one, and her lone blemish was a run-scoring single by Morgan Hawk with one out in the fourth.
Game 2: Delaware Valley 3, Ursinus 2
Comfort gave the Bears an immediate jolt, unloading on the first pitch from Aggies starter Jamie Stefani and driving one high over the fence in left field for her third career home run.
Despite the quick strike, Ursinus went hitless until the fifth, and the visitors took advantage with a three-run fourth. A fielding error allowed the tying run to score, and a grounder to Comfort on the mound added another before Julie Burns delivered a two-out RBI single to right center to make it 3-1.
Ursinus scored its second run without the benefit of a hit, but ran itself out of a possible big inning in the fourth. After back-to-back errors put runners on second and third, a lineout gave Stefani the first out of the frame. Crouse's fly ball to deep left plated Carson, but the trail runner was thrown out trying to advance to third on the play.
The Bears had two on with one out in the fifth, but Stefani rolled up a double play to escape the threat. Freshman Christina Wentz kept hope alive with a base hit with one out in the seventh but advanced no further as the Aggies held on.
Stefani allowed four hits and two runs – one earned – with a walk and a strikeout. The right-hander came in to the day with 36 strikeouts in 32 innings, but struck out only one Bear on the afternoon.
Comfort finished 2-for-4 to stretch her hitting streak to nine, including six straight multi-hit efforts. She was a hard-luck loser on the mound, conceding only four hits and one earned run in a complete-game performance.
Up Next
The Bears head to Eastern for a non-conference matchup on Tuesday.