BARTOW, Fl. - The Hood College softball team could not hold onto their leads Monday afternoon in day two of THE Spring Games, falling 8-5 against Westminster College (Pa.) and 17-9 to Marywood University.
At the Plate
Rebecca Gottleib (Linthicum, Md./North County) went 6-8 with a walk and two doubles across both games.
Kara Heidlauf (Mount Joy, Pa./Donegal High School) batted 2-4 with two RBIs in game one against Westminster.
Sam Larkin (Pasadena, Md/Chesapeake High School),
Hanna Janke (Calgary, Alberta, Can./Bishop Carroll), and
Bailey Pysher (Pottstown, Pa/Pottsgrove) all batted 3-4 in the day's second game versus Marywood, with Pysher driving in three runs and smacking a double.
In the Circle
Gottleib struck out six batters in seven innings in the game one loss.
Westminster (Pa.) 8, Hood 5
The Blazers got on the board their first visit to the plate, with Gottleib leading off with a walk before making it all the way around the diamond when
Jocelyn Pfleiger (Quakertown, Pa./Dock Mennonite Academy) smacked a deep double to center field.
Although the Titans answered in the top of the second to tie the game, Hood took a modest 5-1 lead after a leadoff double from Gottleib was followed by a flurry of singles to drive runners in.
After the next six Westminster batters went back to the dugout in order, it looked like the Blazers had a convincing hold on the game, but the final two innings proved to be fatal, as the Titans tied things up in the sixth with a four-spot of their own, then took the lead in the seventh with a three-run home run. Hood would only manage one baserunner in their final at-bats of the game as Westminster completed their comeback.
Marywood 17, Hood 9 (6 inn.)
This time it would be the Pacers who scored first when they plated two runs in the bottom of the first inning. The Blazers would not let those go unanswered, though, putting together another four-run inning to take the lead.
Both squads would score two runs in the third to keep the deficit the same, and Hood jumped on Marywood's pitching to bring its lead to 9-4 heading into the bottom of the fourth.
Things would unravel for the Blazers from there, however, as the Pacers would score eight runs and go through their batting order before Hood was able to record its first out.
Four more runs would come across for Marywood as it reclaimed the lead in a big way.
The Blazers could not push any more runs across in the fifth and sixth, and after the Pacers added another run in the fifth, Kat Davis would race around the bases in the bottom of the sixth to activate the eight-run mercy rule.
Up Next
Hood continues its Florida trip Wednesday, March 12 with games against College of St. Scholastica and Beloit College in Winter Haven, Florida at 9 and 11:30 a.m.
