PITTSBURGH – The Thiel College softball team split a pair of non-conference games on the road Thursday against the La Roche Redhawks. The Tomcats won the first game 3-2 before falling 6-5 in the second contest.
Vanessa Falce (McKeesport, Pa./McKeesport) staked the Tomcats to a 1-0 lead in the third inning of the first game on a double.
The Tomcats scratched out a run in the fifth and another run in the sixth to increase their lead to 3-0. In the fifth,
Miranda Reesman (Vandergrift, Pa./Leechburg) drove in Falce on a single to center field. In the sixth,
Leah Woytek (Hillsville, Pa./Mohawk) scored
Madison Fullmer (Elyria, Ohio/Elyria) on a single to center field.
La Roche added a pair of runs over the final two innings, but the Tomcats held on to earn the win.
Woytek went 3-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored. Falce hit a pair of doubles, one of which produced a run.
Jessica Kelley (Freeport, Pa./Freeport) also recorded two hits, one of which was a double.
Kelley earned the win in the first game. She allowed one run on three hits through five innings and struck out two batters.
Ashtin Kirkwood (Elderton, Pa./West Shamokin), who pitched the last two innings, allowed one run on two hits with one strikeout.
Thiel scored three runs in its first at-bat in the second game. Falce and
Quinn Ursprung (Bel Air, Md./C Milton Wright) each tallied RBI-singles in the frame.
The Redhawks scored a run in the second inning and added four more runs in the third to take a 5-3 lead.
Fullmer got the Tomcats within a run on an infield single in the fourth inning. In the seventh, Fullmer reached base on an error, which allowed the Tomcats to tie up the game.
The Redhawks went on to win the game in the bottom of the seventh on a 2-out double to left center field.
Chase Gifford (Buffalo, N.Y./City Honors School) went 3-for-3 in the second game. Woytek and Ursprung both collected a pair of hits.
Fullmer took the loss. She allowed four earned runs on 12 hits with four strikeouts.
The Tomcats will play a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) doubleheader on the road Saturday against the Washington & Jefferson Presidents. The first game will begin at 1 p.m.
