Belles Sweep Stars
Saint Mary's Stories
ROSEMONT, Ill. - The Saint Mary's softball team (8-4) swept Dominican University by 5-3 and 5-2 scores on Sunday at the Dome at the Ballpark.
Caitlyn Migawa drives in the first run
of the day for the Belles.The Belles got on the scoreboard right away in the top of the first inning of the opener against the Stars. Moranda Hegedus drew a lead-off walk and moved up on a wild pitch. After stealing third with one out, Hegedus scored easily on a single to right field by Caitlyn Migawa for the 1-0 Saint Mary's lead.
The Stars responded with a one-out run in the bottom of the first and added a two-out run in the second to claim a 2-1 advantage.
The game remained in favor of Dominican until the top of the fourth inning. The Belles plated three runs without recording an out to swing the momentum back in their favor. Migawa and Callie Selner led off the inning with back-to-back singles, and Jillian Busfield drove Migawa home on a double to left center field.
After Cecily Reyes singled to the shortstop, Angela Dainelli singled to right field to score Selner from third. On the same play, Busfield was able to score from second on a throwing error by the Stars' right fielder.
Dominican got one of those runs back in the bottom of the fifth with a two-out single to score a runner from third to make it a 4-3 game.
Saint Mary's came right back with a run in their next at bats. Dainelli started off the inning with a walk and moved up to second on a wild pitch. After advancing to third on a ground out, Dainelli scored on an RBI single to left field by Nina Vlahiotis. The Belles threatened to plate more runs after a ground rule double by Moranda Hegedus and a walk by Kayla Chapman, but the Stars ended the inning with a ground out and a strike out.
Dominican had a two-out triple in the bottom of the sixth, but Callie Selner chalked up the backward "K" to retire the Stars. In their last at bats, Dominican put a runner on with a one-out single, but the Belles ended the game with a pop up to second base and a fly out to center field to secure the victory.
Callie Selner picked up the game-one win in the circle after surrendering two earned runs on ten hits with four strikeouts. Caitlyn Migawa and Angela Dainelli each had two hits, an RBI, and scored a run in the victory. Jillian Busfield and Nina Vlahiotis each added an RBI.
Game two started similarly to game one as the Belles claimed the early lead with a run in the top of the first. Kayla Chapman laced a one-out double and scored two batters later on a double by Callie Selner.
The Stars evened the score in the bottom of the first with a one-out RBI double, but the Belles ended the inning on a 6-3-5 double play to get the runner attempting to advance to third base on an infield ground out.
The score remained unchanged until the bottom of the fourth inning when Dominican plated a run with two outs gone in the frame to claim the 2-1 advantage.
Sarah Burke belts a double in game
two for the Belles.Saint Mary's came right back in the top of the fifth with a three-run outburst. Sarah Burke led the inning off with a double to the left-center gap, and Sarah Callis singled to center field and moved up to second after Burke drew the throw to put runners in scoring position with no outs. The pair both scored easily after a line drive by Moranda Hegedus was misplayed by the Stars' left fielder as Hegedus made it to third on the play. Two batters later, Hegedus scored on an infield ground out by Migawa to put the Belles ahead 4-2.
That offensive momentum paired with an inning-ending double play on defense in the Dominican half of the next inning helped keep the Belles going in the top of the sixth. Angela Dainelli started the inning off with a single, stole second base, and moved up to third on a wild pitch to get to third without an out being recorded. Dainelli scored on an RBI ground out to second base by Cecily Reyes to give the Belles the 5-2 lead.
Saint Mary's retired the Dominican side in order in the bottom of the sixth and shut down any attempt of a two-out rally in the bottom of the seventh with a Stars ground out to end the game.
Sarah Burke earned the pitching win after scattering seven hits over seven innings and allowing just two runs. She also helped her own cause with a double - the first hit of her collegiate career - and scored a run. Callie Selner went 3-for-4 in game two with three doubles and an RBI.
The Belles (8-4) are back in action on Wednesday, March 26 when they travel to Manchester for a doubleheader against the Spartans starting at 3:30 p.m.