Softball team opens MIAA play with two losses, 5-4 and 9-1 against Hope

OLIVET, Mich. – The Olivet College softball team was swept by Hope College in its Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) opening doubleheader today at the Cutler Athletic Complex in Olivet. In the opener, the Comets led three times before falling 5-4 in eight innings. In the nightcap, the Flying Dutch scored nine unanswered runs to win 9-1 in a run-rule shortened five-inning game.

In game one, Olivet took a 1-0 lead with a run in the bottom half of the second inning. Junior Brooke Coshow (Niles/Brandywine) walked to start the inning. She went to second on a sacrifice bunt, to third on a fly out and scored on an infield single by junior Bridget Lathers (Grass Lake/Lumen Christi). Hope tied the game on a solo home run by Abby Phillips in the top half of the third inning.

The Comets regained the lead when they scored two runs in the fifth inning. Freshman Terri Hurosky (Nashville/Maple Valley) reached on a fielder's choice and stole second base. After senior Jenny Robbins (Fenton) walked, freshman Alyssa Nielsen (Greenville) hit a ball that just went fair for a triple, scoring Hurosky and Robbins.

The Flying Dutch answered with two runs, including another solo home run by Phillips, in the sixth inning. Olivet took a 4-3 lead with a run in its half of the sixth. Freshman Lauren Lenard (Lansing/Lansing Catholic) reached on an infield. Junior Nicole Wernette (Remus/Chippewa Hills) entered the game as a pinch runner and promptly went to second on a wild pitch. A bloop single by sophomore Ciara Santos (Lansing/Everett) put runners on the corners. Lathers put down a perfect squeeze bunt to score Wernette.

In the top half of the seventh and with a runner in scoring position, Hope was down to its last strike. On the 10th pitch to her, Kristin Higgs sent the ball towards third base, where the ball ricocheted off the fielder's glove and into left field to score the tying run.

The Comets left the winning run on second base in the seventh. In the top half of the eighth inning, Hope's Stephanie Faber was hit by a pitch and then stole second. With two outs, Suzie Stevenson lined a 1-0 pitch into left-centerfield to score Faber. Olivet was retired in order in the home half of the eighth.

The Comets finished the game with seven hits. Nielsen and Robbins each went 2-for-3. To go along with her triple, Nielsen had a team-leading sixth double of the season and raised her batting average to .372. Robbins reached base safely in her first three plate appearances with a double, single and walk from the leadoff position in the lineup. Lathers and Nielsen each had two RBI.

In the circle, senior Katie Harper (Vassar) threw the first six innings and did not factor in the decision. She allowed three earned runs on seven hits, while striking out two and walking zero batters. This season, Harper has walked only four batters in 41 and one-third innings. Junior Rachel Cook (Traverse City/Central) was the losing pitcher, as she yielded the tying and go-ahead runs.

Due to conference rules, Olivet batted first in the second game and grabbed the early 1-0 lead with a run in its first at-bat. Robbins walked to lead off the game and quickly stole second base. On a single by junior Kelsey Greene (Burr Oak), Robbins scored. The Flying Dutch responded with nine straight runs: two in the first, two in third, three in the fourth and two in the fifth.

For the game, the Comets were limited to just four hits. Greene, Hurosky, Lenard and sophomore Lindsey Maas (Pinckney) each recorded a single. In the circle, sophomore Breanne Harmon (Quincy) suffered the loss, as she gave up the nine runs on 10 hits, while striking out two.

Olivet will host perennial MIAA power Alma College Saturday afternoon for a doubleheader, starting at 1 p.m.