PITTSBURGH – The Thiel College softball team split a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) doubleheader Tuesday against the Chatham Cougars. Thiel won the second game 11-1 in five innings after suffering a 5-3 setback in the first contest.
 
The Tomcats wasted no time building up a big lead in the second game. Vanessa Falce (McKeesport, Pa./McKeesport) hit an RBI-single in the first inning, and Miranda Reesman (Vandergrift, Pa./Leechburg) followed with a three-run home run to give the Tomcats a 4-0 cushion.
 
The Cougars scored their lone run of the game in the bottom of the first, but the Tomcats came back with three runs in the second and two runs apiece in the third and fourth innings to ice the game after five frames.
 
In the second, A.J. Corradi (Youngstown, Ohio/Austintown Fitch) brought in a run on a sacrifice fly before Falce drove in a run on an RBI-double to right center field. Jessica Kelley (Sarver, Pa./Freeport) pushed Thiel's third run across the plate in the third with a single down the right field line.
 
In the fourth, Breanna Mesich (Jeannette, Pa. /Hempfield) drove in a pair of runs on a double to right field.
 
Falce went 3-for-3 in the second game with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored. Reesman went 2-for-3 with a home run, three RBIs and two runs scored.
 
Mackenzie Gullette (Dunlap, Ill. /Dunlap) earned the win in the second game. She allowed one run on four hits with two strikeouts in five innings of work.
 
In the first game, Corradi broke open a scoreless game with a two-RBI double to center field in the top of the third. However, Chatham went on to score four runs in the bottom of the third and picked up another run in the bottom of the fifth.
 
Mary Kate Dougherty (Depew, N.Y/Mt. St. Mary Academy) scored a run for the Tomcats in the sixth to cut the lead down to two runs, but the Cougars preserved the lead by getting out of a bases-loaded jam.
 
Kelley and Leah Woytek (Hillsville, Pa. /Mohawk) each collected two hits in the first game.
 
The Tomcats will host the Thomas More Saints Friday at Tomcat Park. The first game of the PAC twinbill is set to begin at 1 p.m.