By: Ryan Gasser, sports information director
CLERMONT, Fla. – The Capital University softball team played a pair of games to the wire and came away with wins in one of two games on Thursday, February 27. The Crusaders took the Bears of St. Joseph's College - Brooklyn to extra innings in a losing effort but came back and walked off with a win over regional foe Hanover College in comeback fashion.
ADDITIONAL INFO
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GAME 1 – CAPITAL 4, ST. JOSEPH'S – BROOKLYN 5 (F/8)
Box score
St. Joseph's scored the game's first run in the bottom of the second on a run-scoring base hit from the bottom of the order but Capital senior Hannah Martin tied the game by driving home pinch runner Isabelle Hysong from third in the top of the fifth. Hysong ran for Alyx Slusher, who hit a leadoff double to begin the inning.
The Crusaders tagged on two more runs by taking advantage of a Bears' error combined with timely hitting. Cory Mangen reached base after Bears centerfielder Vivian Tomovich dropped a fly ball. Mangen then came around to score on Lauren Kachure's RBI single. Kachure followed suit after stealing a base and scoring from second on Erica Ogden's double to left field, giving Cap a 3-1 lead.
St. Joseph's scored twice in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings, benefitting from a Capital error along the way. With a runner on, shortstop Morgan Fadel misplayed a batted ball to load the bases. Emily Burroughs then drove home one run on a single prior to Ashleigh Hartwig's sacrifice fly, which scored pinch runner Tayler Faraguna from third.
With the international tiebreaker rule in play, Cap pushed runner Lauren Kachure over on a sac bunt and an error allowed her to score and take a 4-3 lead. Capital cut down two potential runs at the plate with Fadel and Cory Mangen at second base coming up with big defensive plays but the Bears squeaked a run home beating a throw to the plate. They scored the game-winning run when pitcher Brianna Shearer committed an error in the field which allowed Nicole Trani to cross the plate and end the game.
Shearer (L, 1-1) pitched 7.2 innings and allowed five runs on five hits and five walks while striking out four batters.
Erica Ogden and Alyx Slusher accounted for four of the team's seven hits, each tallying two and each hitting one double. Traini went 2-for-4 and scored three times for St. Joseph's.
GAME 2 – HANOVER 5, CAPITAL 6
Box score
Capital looked to salvage the day in the nightcap and its chances did not look great through the first five-plus innings.
Hanover College plated two runs in the opening innings and another in the third to take an early 3-0 lead. Sophomore Madrienne Herdlick then kept the Panthers off of the board and limited them to just one hit over the next three innings. However, a two-run single by Kiley Shedron made for a 5-0 deficit coming out of the top of the sixth inning.
In the bottom half, Capital batted around the lineup and scored four runs to get them back into the game. Cory Mangen led the inning off with a double and came around to score when Haley Grau plated her with an RBI single. Grau then finished circling the bases when Alyssa Durbin hit a run-scoring single and advanced to second on the throw. Hannah Martin followed suit with another single to score Paree Furness. On the same play, Hanover catcher Nikki Bridgers tossed an errant throw that allowed pinch runner Isabelle Hysong to score and make the score 5-4 before inning's end.
Sophomore Kim Rega had a 1-2-3 seventh inning and turned the page over the Capital offense in the bottom half. Hanover committed three errors in the seventh, two of which allowed runs to score. Mangen singled to lead off the inning and found herself in scoring position with a throwing error by second baseman Shelby Edington. Another error on a batted ball by Lauren Kachure allowed Mangen to score and put the winning run at second. Kachure was caught stealing to clear the bases with one out, but Erica Ogden followed with a triple to put the winning run 60 feet away from ending the game. Haley Grau then put the ball in play but first baseman Kiley Shedron booted it, allowing Odgen to score the winning run.
Rega (W, 1-1) took the win after putting together a perfect line in 1.1 innings of relief work.
Capital mounted 10 hits with Ogden and Durbin accounting for two each.
Hanover committed six errors over the course of the game. Of Capital's six runs, only three were considered earned. Paige Knowling (L, 1-3) took the loss after allowing eight hits and four runs in 5.2 innings of work.
Capital (2-4) has one last day of play in Florida. The Crusaders will play Eastern Nazarene University at 12 p.m. before wrapping up its stay at 2:15 p.m. with a third meeting with Alma College, both on Friday, February 28.
