TIFFIN, Ohio -- The Heidelberg University Softball team squared off with first-place Mount Union on Friday, but fell twice. The Student Princes squandered chances late in a 4-3 loss in eight innings in the opener, and were done in by a big inning in a 7-1 loss in the night cap.
GAME ONE: MT UNION 4-9-0 BERG 3-8-0
Scoreless through four, Mount finally cracked
Haley Gockstetter in the fifth, scoring twice.
Unimpressed, HU responded in the bottom of the frame.
Adyson Bowe ripped a triple to start, and would score on a double steal with
Hannah Hashman.
Taylor Forrest bunted Hashman to third before
Megan Miller bounced a game-tying single through the left side.
Still tied in the bottom of the seventh, Miller singled and moved to second on a bunt by
Leah Arnett that came to rest on the foul line. The pair would be stranded as the Mount Union defense stiffened -- catching a fly ball on the warning track and two liners to short.
The Purple Raiders plated two in the top of the eighth, but again, HU fought back.
Alexis Burton opened with a single to right and Bowe singled up the middle. A Hashman bunt moved them up 60 feet, and an RBI grounder to short scored pinch runner
Abbey Hoertz. The tying run would stay at third, however.
Gockstetter, having a breakout sophomore season, went the distance. She allowed four runs on nine hits and struck out five. In the process, she eclipsed the 100-strikeout plateau.
GAME TWO: JCU 7-10-0 BERG 1-8-2
Heidelberg struck first in the second game. Three straight singles, including an RBI single to left by Burton, allowed Bowe to cross the plate.
Mount Union scored four times in the third, with the major blow coming on a two-out, bases loaded double that plated three (all unearned). The Purple Raiders added two in the fourth and one in the sixth.
Forrest worked 5.2 innings, allowing seven runs (three earned) on nine hits.
Kamryn Rastigue worked the final 1.1.
UP NEXT:
The Student Princes host Alma College on Monday, making up a doubleheader originally slated from early April. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.