KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The Thiel College softball team lost to the Heidelberg Student Princes and the Aurora Spartans Thursday during play in the Sunkissed Games in Kissimmee, Fla. Thiel lost a heartbreaker to Heidelberg 7-6 before falling to Aurora 14-6.
Heidelberg held an early 3-0 lead, but Thiel took a 4-3 lead midway through the fourth thanks to 2-run innings in the third and fourth. Sophomore third baseman
Vanessa Falce (McKeesport, Pa./McKeesport) drove in both runs in the third on a 2-run bomb. In the fourth,
Alexa Fike (Export, Pa./Franklin Regional) and
Leah Woytek (Hillsville, Pa./Mohawk) each drove in a run.
Heidelberg tied up the game in the bottom of the fourth, but Thiel surged ahead 6-4 in the fifth thanks to an error that led to two runs. The Student Princes scored one run in the fifth to cut the lead down to a single run.
Thiel was kept of the scoreboard in the sixth and seventh innings, and Heidelberg scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh to eke out the win.
Bailey Hoover (Smock, Pa./Uniontown) led the Tomcats with two hits, one of which was a double.
Miranda Reesman (Vandergrift, Pa./Leechburg) also doubled while Falce drove in a pair of runs on a 2-run homer.
Madison Fullmer (Elyria, Ohio/Elyria) also drove in two runs on one hit.
Aurora jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the second game. Reesman drove in Thiel's first run of the game in the third to cut the lead down to five runs, but Aurora responded with three more runs in the top of the fourth.
Leah Woytek (Hillsville, Pa./Mohawk) cleared the bases on a 3-RBI triple in the fourth, and
A.J. Corradi (Youngstown, Ohio/Austintown Fitch) pushed another run across the plate on a single. However, the Spartans went on to outscore Thiel 5-1 over the final three innings to earn the win.
Falce went 3-for-4 with an RBI against Aurora. Woytek, Corradi and Reesman each collected two hits.
Sam Owens led Aurora at the plate with a 4-for-4 performance that included a 2-run home run. Josie Bachtell hit a pair of home runs, one of which was a 3-run shot.
The Tomcats will conclude play in the Sunkissed Games Friday. Thiel will take on Rowan at 3:45 p.m. and Webster at 6 p.m.
