WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – Mount Union's softball team split a pair of games on their second day in Florida, beating North Central (MN) 17-2 in five innings and falling to Ithaca 2-1 on Sunday afternoon.
The Purple Raiders (3-1) struck first in their first game of the day, putting up seven runs in the bottom of the first inning with RBIs coming from junior Faith Reicosky (North Canton / Hoover), junior Kendyll Cahill (Grove Port / Grove Port Madison), senior Adri George (Eastlake / North), senior Tori Sickafoose (Magnolia / Sandy Valley), and freshman Allison Jones (Berlin Center / Western Reserve). Mount Union would add to their lead in the second inning, adding three more runs; this time RBIs came from sophomore Kaitlynn Bamler (Twinsburg), junior Trista Melcher (Medina), and sophomore Karlie Davis (St. Leon, Ind. / East Central) to make the lead 10-0.
Mount Union would go on to add six more runs in the bottom half of the third, with RBIs coming from sophomore Delaney Savage (New Philadelphia / Tuscarawas Central Catholic), Bamler, Davis, and junior Cecilia Stephens (Edinburgh / Southwest). Bamler would then hit a sacrifice RBI that scored freshman Lindsay Jones (Berlin Center / Western Reserve) to make the lead 17-0.
The Rams (0-12) would score a pair of runs in the fifth inning with RBIs coming from Addison Schroer and Aurora Prettyman, but that is as close as they would get as the Raiders would go on to win 17-2 in five innings.
Junior Chloe Bird (Norton) would get the start in the circle for Mount Union, picking up her first win of the season, giving up zero runs on just two hits in two innings of action. Freshman Daniella Vecchio (Manongahela, Pa. / Ringgold) would come in to pitch two innings in relief and gave up zero runs on just one hit and struck out one. Sophomore Hannah Ayers (Greenwich / South Central) would come in to pitch the final inning and gave up two runs on one hit and struck out one.
The Bombers (2-0) would strike first in game two, breaking the scoreless tie in the top half of the fifth with an RBI single from Jessie Lopez to take a 1-0 lead. The Raiders would answer with a run of their own in the bottom half of the same inning when junior Kaitlyn Culver (Girard) scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at a run apiece.
Ithaca, however, would reclaim the lead in the sixth inning this time, scoring after an error by the Mount Union left fielder. The Raiders wouldn't be able to answer over the final two innings as the Bombers would go on to win 2-1.
Cahill got the start in the circle in game two for Mount Union and would pitch a complete game, giving up two runs, one earned on five hits, and striking out eight.
The Raiders continue their Florida trip tomorrow against Wittenberg at 9 a.m., followed by Albertus Magnus at 11:15 a.m. at the Diamond Plex Field in Winter Haven, Fla.
