La Plume, Pa. – Visiting Misericordia University won a pair of non-conference games on Tuesday afternoon at Keystone College as the Cougars edged the Giants 5-3 in the opener before picking up a 19-4, five-inning win in the nightcap. The Cougars improve to 12-6 on the year following the sweep while the Giants fall to 5-7 overall heading into the start of Colonial States Athletic Conference play this weekend.
Game 1 Misericordia built a 5-0 lead over and held off a comeback bid by Keystone in the bottom of the seventh inning to escape with the 5-3 victory.
Whitney Ellenberg got the scoring started with a solo home run in the top of the second inning and the Cougars pushed their lead to 2-0 later that inning when a run scored on a wild pitch. The visitors added another run in the top of the third inning on a bases-loaded walk before Melanie Quintanilla hit a two-run single in the visitor's third to give Misericordia the five-run advantage.
Keystone battled back in the bottom of the seventh inning as
Antonette Scialpi (Hughestown, PA/Pittston Area) delivered a two-run single that brought home
Samantha Monetti (Toms River, NJ/Toms River North) and
Emily Long (Shamokin, PA/Our Lady of Lourdes Regional), with
Lindsey Bucklaw (Carbondale, PA/Carbondale Area) also scoring on an error on the play, but the Giants left the potential tying runs in scoring position as the Cougars held on for the win.
Bailee Schies tossed a complete game for Misericordia, allowing three runs on five hits while striking out five batters to pick up the win for the Cougars, who were paced by Quintanilla's 3-3, two-RBI effort at the plate.
Alyssa Hughes (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge) suffered the loss in the circle after allowing five runs – three of which were earned – on nine hits while fanning two batters in five innings.
Nicole Shay (Thompson, PA/Susquehanna Community) did not allow a hit and picked up one K in the final two innings for the Giants, , who got two hits from Bucklaw and one apiece from Long, Scialpi, and
Sarah Stacey (Shickshinny, PA/Lake-Lehman) in the setback.
Game 2 Misericordia used a pair of big innings, putting up seven runs in the second inning before scoring 10 runs in the third inning, to break open the contest while cruising to the 19-4, five-inning victory.
The Cougars took a 1-0 lead in the first at-bats of the nightcap with an unearned run and tacked on seven more runs in the visitor's second – only one of which was earned – to build an 8-0 advantage. Misericordia tacked on 10 more runs in the top of the third inning, highlighted by a three-run home run from Ellenberg, to claim an 18-0 advantage.
Keystone got on the board in the bottom of the third inning when Stacey ripped a solo home run down the left field line. The Giants added three more runs in the home fourth as
Kaylee Hartman (Red Bank, NJ/Red Bank Regional) hit a two-run single before
Katie Thompson (Nazareth, PA/Nazareth Area) brought home
Ryleigh Fitch (Springville, PA/Tunkhannock) with a base hit up the middle.
The Cougars, who closed the scoring with a run in the top of the fifth inning, got three hits from Quintanilla and Ellenberg, with Ellenberg driving in six runs. Maddie Stebich picked up the win after allowing four runs on seven hits and striking out two batters in the complete game.
Shay suffered the loss for the Giants after allowing 11 runs – only four of which were earned – on seven hits in two innings of work. Hughes returned the rubber in relief and yielded eight runs on 11 hits while picking up one strikeout.
Thompson led Keystone with a pair of hits in the game two setback.
Up Next Keystone will open league play on Friday with a doubleheader at Immaculata University. First pitch is scheduled to be thrown at 3:00 p.m. in Immaculata, Pennsylvania.
