ST. PAUL, Minn. – After letting the lead slip away in the opener, the Carleton College softball rallied late in game two to earn a split of its doubleheader at St. Catherine University. The Knights dropped game one, 9-4, but scored five times in the top of the seventh inning to notch a 10-8 triumph in the nightcap.
"It was a couple of wild games," said Carleton head coach
Amy Erickson. "The bats were hot all day. I'm proud of our team for battling to the very end and showing real grit in game two. We'll look to carry that momentum into two more good battles this upcoming week."
Game 1 Recap
St. Catherine 9. Carleton 4
Cassie Cunniff (Sr./Mt. Prospect, Ill./Prospect) factored in all four of the Knights' (11-11, 2-4 MIAC) runs as she went 4-for-4 with a triple and two home runs.
In the third inning, Cunniff tripled to right field and scored on
Bryanna Schaffer's (So./San Diego, Calif./Mar Vista) single.
The Wildcats (13-12, 8-2 MIAC) answered by pushing across seven runs in the fourth inning, despite having only three hits in the frame. The biggest blow being a two-out grand slam by Julia Azure.
Cunniff homered to right center in the fifth inning and smashed her second longball of the game over the scoreboard in left centerfield an inning later. This was her second multi-homer game of the season (also March 17 vs. Oswego State) and the fourth such performance of her career.
Laurie Avila (Sr./Sugar Grove, Ill./Oswego) added a 3-for-4 game with the bat, while Schaffer and
Amy Chen (Jr./Kirkland, Wash./Lake Washington) both had two hits.
Game 2 Recap
Carleton 10, St. Catherine 8
In order to claim the comeback win, the Knights had to erase multiple deficits including an 8-5 hole in the seventh inning. Schaffer had a team-high three hits and collected a career-best six RBI thanks to a three-run home run and a game-tying three-run double.
The contest was scoreless until Schaffer went deep in the fourth inning for her for her second home run of the season. This one was a three-run shot that brought home both
Livi Peters (Fy./Rockledge, Fla./Viera) and Cunniff.
St. Catherine had an immediate response with another big bottom of the fourth, pushing five runs across with each tally coming with two outs.
Peters doubled home Chen, then scored a run of her own via
Ella Collins' (So./Ashburn, Va./Riverside) pinch-hit single to knot the game at 5-5 in the fifth inning.
The Wildcats plated a run in the bottom of that frame and added two more in the sixth inning to build an 8-5 advantage before Carleton came to bat for the final time.
Peters and
Natasha Paez (Fy./West Covina, Calif./South Hills) coaxed one-out walks, and Cunniff singled to load the bases. Schaffer ripped the first pitch she saw into the leftfield corner, chasing home all three teammates.
Adriana Wiggins (Fy./Long Beach, Calif./Wilson) followed with a go-ahead double to center field, and Avila kept the rally going with a RBI single.
Schaffer gave up only one earned run over her 3.2 frames on the rubber.
Faith Hanshaw (Sr./The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands Christian Academy) tossed the final 2.0 innings for Carleton, improving to 6-4 this season.
In addition to Schaffer's three-hit game, four other Knights—Cunniff, Wiggins, Avila, and
Emma Kartheiser (Sr./Oronoco, Minn./Century)—also had multi-hit stat lines.
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton was scheduled to host No. 11 Bethel University for a doubleheader on Sunday, but forecasted precipitation has postponed those games until May 6. Instead, the Knights' next gameday will be Tuesday, April 18 when No. 13 College of Saint Benedict visits Ele Hansen Field for a 3:30 p.m. twinbill.
