GREENVILLE, Pa. (April 22) -- The Thiel College Softball team collected its first win over Westminster College since 2021 with a gutsy 4-3 game-two triumph to split a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) doubleheader from Tomcat Park Wednesday evening.
The Tomcats stand at 12-22 (4-16) as the nightcap triumph snapped a 14-game skid against the reigning-league-champion Titans (25-9, 17-3), who entered the day first in the conference. Thiel heads into the final weekend of the season winners in 3 of their last 4 contests.
Game 2 -- Thiel 4, Westminster 3
Thiel climbed ahead 1-0 in the first on a
Mackenzie Herman (Greenville, Pa./Reynolds) RBI single as the Cats collected four hits in the frame. A Herman run-scroing double in the third along with an
Ava Gilmore (West Middlesex, Pa./West Middlesex Area) sacrifice fly pushed the Cats ahead 3-1. The Blue and Gold tacked on 1 more in the fourth on a
Kylie Heid (Monaca, Pa./Central Valley) double.
Lily Merolillo (Mineral Ridge, Ohio/Mineral Ridge) started for Thiel and allowed just two hits through five frames. She worked 1-2-3 frames in the first, fourth and fifth innings.
Westminster plated 1 in the sixth to get within 4-2. With the tying run on base, Merolillo got a strikeout and a fly out to thwart the threat. The visitors looked poised to even things in the seventh before Merolillo retired the final three batters on ground outs to seal the win.
Merolillo improved to 5-6 on the season as she scattered seven hits across the complete-game effort and recorded one strikeout. She did not issue any free passes.
Herman led the Thiel offense with a 2-for-3 effort and a pair of RBIs. Heid was 3-for-3 at the leadoff spot with a pair of runs and RBI. Gilmore had a hit and drove in 1.
Game 1 -- Thiel 0, Westminster 10 (6 Inn.)
The opener was all Titans as reigning PAC Pitcher and Newcomer of the Year Cheyenne Piper twirled a 68-pitch perfect game with eight strikeouts to power the visitors to the win.
Looking Ahead
Thiel caps its season Sunday with a PAC-twinbill at Chatham beginning at 1 p.m. The Cats are 31-9 all time against the Cougars and have taken 5 of the last 6 meetings.
