La PLUME, Pa.—Keystone College had its problems keeping Misericordia University off of the base paths today at Edmunds Field.
The Cougars belted 31 hits, including five home runs, to sweep the Giants, 14-11 in the opener and 10-0 in five innings in the second game, to improve to 18-14. The losses dropped Keystone to 11-25.
The Giants will return to action Thursday afternoon against Clarks Summit University in a Colonials States Athletic Conference (CSAC) doubleheader beginning at 3:00 p.m. in Clarks Summit.
Game 1 – The Cougars smashed four home runs—one each by sophomores Ciara DeLong and Brooke Moyer, freshman Kierstan Pflueger, and senior Lori Brennan—to out-slug the Giants, who finished with 14 hits on their own and overcame an 8-2 deficit to tie the game with a six-run rally in the fourth inning.
Freshman Brianna Holder paced Misericordia's 17-hit attack with four hits and drove in four runs and freshman Maddie Holub contributed three hits and two RBIs as the Cougars added four runs in the sixth and two in the seventh to hold off Keystone, which scored three times in the bottom of the sixth to slice Misericordia's lead to one, 12-11, after tying it in the fourth.
Junior
Alyssa Hughes (Sellersville, Pa./Pennridge) led the Giants with two hits, including a two-run home run in the first inning, and drove in three runs and senior
Ryleigh Fitch (Springville, Pa./Tunkhannock Area) doubled down the right-field line to drive in three runs to cap off the six-run rally in the fourth. In the sixth, sophomore
Mariah Loughney (Jermyn, Pa./Lakeland) hit a run-scoring single and freshman
Heaven Houck (Honesdale, Pa./Honesdale) followed with a two-run single as Keystone continued to chip away. Senior
Kaylee Hartman (Red Bank, N.J./Red Bank Regional), sophomore
Gabrielle Truesdale (Tunkhannock, Pa./Lackawanna Trail), freshman
Paige Mokychic (Beaumont, Pa./Tunkhannock Area) and Houck finished with two hits apiece.
After the Giants closed the gap to one, Misericordia got some breathing room in the seventh inning on a two-run single by Holub. Sophomore pitcher Victoria Schmidt struck out seven batters in 6.2 innings to improve to 6-1 on the mound.
Game 2 – Misericordia loaded the bases in the first inning and pushed three runs across the plate on an RBI single by sophomore Jessie McDonough and RBI fielder's choices on balls hit by Pflueger and Brennan to take an early 3-0 lead. In the third, Brennan blasted a two-run home run to right field and the Cougars added three more in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by DeLong and McDonough and an RBI double by Pflueger.
Freshman Amanda Butera had three hits and McDonough and DeLong added a pair to back up the two-hit pitching of Moyle, who went four innings and struck out three to improve to 8-5. Defensively, the Cougars pulled off a 5-3-2-5 triple play in the second inning.
Keystone's two hits were by Hughes and Mokychic. Hughes smacked a double, her second of the season, in the fourth inning.
Keystone news & notes
- Hughes' home run was her first of the season
- Hartman's two hits in the first game today give her 96 in her career; she also started the 100th game of her career
- Giants' will play the rest of their games on the road this spring, at Clarks Summit Thursday and at Marywood Saturday
- Keystone is one game behind Cedar Crest in the battle for the sixth and final playoff spot in the upcoming CSAC tournament; Giants must finish a game ahead of Cedar Crest in the standings in order to claim the last playoff berths since Cedar Crest holds the tiebreaker in case of tie due to its sweep of Keystone earlier this year
