OMAHA, Neb. — The College of Saint Mary softball team dropped a pair of games to Doane University, but showed progress, in a Great Plains Athletic Conference double-header on Tuesday afternoon.
The Flames fall to 7-19 overall and remain winless in GPAC play, dropping to 0-6. Doane improves their overall mark to 11-15 while evening their GPAC record at 4-4.
Coach Carolyn Todd Bray was pleased with the competitiveness she saw out of her team, saying, “we showed a lot of fight today and did a much better job offensively. We’re still working on getting back to playing as well as we know we can; but, today was a step in the right direction.”
Coach Bray pointed out several highlights, “Syd Griffin got her first collegiate home run, we had three diving catches defensively, and I thought Daisy Lowther did a great job in relief.”
Game One: Doane 10, CSM 1 (6 Innings)
Doane used a five-run third inning to dig out of a 1-0 hole en route to a 10-1 six-inning victory in game one of Tuesday’s double-header.
Katelyn Hays, Anna Prauner, and Jadyn Hunt all drove in two runs for the Tigers in the victory.
Kayla Reed put CSM on the board first with an RBI-single in the second inning to score Daisy Lowther who had doubled to lead off the inning. A wild pitch advanced Shaylynn Campbell and Reed both to scoring position before Paige Stuck was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Doane escaped trouble when Megan Garcia popped out to end the frame.
Campbell (4-9) was dealing in the circle early on, retiring the first six batters she faced, before encountering trouble in the third. She was the lone Flame to record multiple hits, going 2-for-2 in the contest.
The Flames threatened in the home half but left a pair of runners aboard.
Isabella Beauchamp singled home a run in the fourth and Hunt knocked home a pair on a fifth inning single for an 8-1 Doane lead.
Hays and Prauner each singled home runs in the sixth to push the advantage to nine and a scoreless bottom saw the Tigers secure the run-rule victory.
Sarah Shevenell (4-3) struck out six in six innings of one-run ball in the circle. She allowed six hits and issued one walk.
Game Two: Doane 12, CSM 8
Doane used bookend five-run innings and held off a late Flames’ rally to secure the sweep with a 12-8 win.
The big blow in the first came via a two-run home run off the bat off Brittney Hoffman. Sydney Griffin cut into the deficit with a two-run home run in the third.
Doane added a pair in the fifth to stretch their lead back out to five runs, 7-5. Marisa Marquez doubled home a run and scored herself on Hoffman’s base knock.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Flames received RBI-doubles from Kayla Reed and Megan Garcia along with a ground ball by Savannah Schewe that chased in a run to cut the deficit to 7-5.
The gained momentum was short-lived as Doane answered back with a five-run seventh with an error extending the inning and allowing three additional runs to come across.
CSM scored three times in the final frame thanks to a run-scoring single from Macy Santoni, a ground ball that scored a run from Paige Stuck, and a two-out error. The Flames had two runners on base when Tiger slinger Abbi Arroyo recorded the final out.
Megan Garcia (2-10) suffered the loss as she was unable to get out of the first.
Faith Molina (5-9) earned the win for the Tigers despite allowing eight runs – seven earned – on 12 hits and four walks. She struck out three.
Schewe led the offensive charge, going 3-for-5 with a double. Shaylynn Campbell (2-3) picked up her second multi-hit game of the day to go along with a walk and Santoni finished 2-for-4 with a double, two runs scored, and an RBI.
Up Next:
The Flames are back home on Friday when they entertain Briar Cliff University in a 3 p.m. GPAC double-header.
