Belles Battle Back Against Huskies, Shut Out Muskies

Southern Maine Box Score - Lakeland Box Score

• Makenzie Duncan went 2-for-4 with a run scored against Southern Maine.
• Madelynne Keller paced the Belles with a 3-for-4 effort at the dish with an RBI and a run against Lakeland.
• Jessica Alberts came in to earn a relief victory in game one, and Morgan Raymer had the shutout win in game two.

LEESBURG, Fla. - The Saint Mary's softball team tied the game in the bottom of the seventh and walked off in the bottom of the eighth in a 4-3 win over Southern Maine before blanking Lakeland 6-0 on Monday at the PFX Spring Games in Florida.

The Belles took a 1-0 lead through one complete inning against Southern Maine in the first contest of the day. Kelsey Keilman had a bunt single. She then scored on an error on Makenzie Duncan's offering to right field. Cassie Young moved up Duncan to second on a sacrifice bunt, but the Belles were unable to inflict any further damage in the first frame.

The Huskies responded with two runs in the top of the second inning and another run in the top of the fourth for a 3-1 advantage. In each of those innings, a key defensive play - cutting down a runner trying to extend a single into a double and getting a runner out trying to go from first to third on a single - had the Belles shut down Southern Maine's offense from gaining any larger of a lead.

Saint Mary's pushed a run across in the bottom of the fourth inning to stay within striking distance. Jamie Young hit a one-out single and stole second base to get into scoring position. The senior came around to score on a single to center field by Makenzie Duncan to make it a 3-2 game. Zoe Bruni retired the next eight batters she faced, and the Belles helped the junior retire the side in the seventh with an infield ground out to end the inning.

Duncan led off the inning by reaching first base on an error and moving up to second on a ground out by Cassie Young. With two outs gone, Sydney Swartz delivered the big hit of the game with a two-out double to plate Duncan, knotting the game at 3-3.

The game moved into the eighth inning and immediately invoked the international tiebreaker rule as the Huskies began the top of the inning with a runner on second. Bruni came up with a big first-batter strikeout. An infield ground out pushed the potential go-ahead run to third, but the Belles closed the door on the threat with another infield ground out. In the bottom half of the inning, Madelynne Keller started on second base and moved up to third on a sacrifice bunt by Megan Knudsen. Morgan Raymer came in to pinch hit and drove in Keller with a sacrifice fly to center field to end the game by the 4-3 final.

Makenzie Duncan went 2-for-4 with a run scored. Jamie Young and Kelsey Keilman each had a hit and scored a run. Sydney Swartz added a double and an RBI. Zoe Bruni went the distance in the circle and struck out five while walking one and allowing just one earned run on six hits.

In their second game of the afternoon, Saint Mary's plated three runs in the second, one in the third, and two in the fourth to take command against Lakeland early.

Cassie Young led off the second inning with a double. Singles by Sydney Swartz, Madelynne Keller, and Kelsey Richards gave the Belles a 1-0 advantage. Alyssa Gutierrez then drove in a pair of runs with a single to make it a 3-0 lead.

An inning later, it was the combination of Cassie Young, Swartz, and Keller again as Saint Mary's added to the lead. Young reached on an error and Swartz made it two runners in scoring position with a double. Keller then drove in Young with her second hit in as many at-bats. Alyssa Gutierrez and Jamie Young each reached base and scored in the fourth inning as the Belles put more than enough offensive support on the scoreboard against the Muskies.

Morgan Raymer faced just two batters over the minimum in a three-hit shutout in the circle. The senior struck out six and did not allow a walk in her first shutout of the season.

Madelynne Keller paced the Belles with a 3-for-4 effort at the dish with an RBI and a run. Cassie Young was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI. Sydney Swartz was 2-for-4 with a run scored, and Alyssa Gutierrez drove in two runs and scored once.

The Belles (8-0) are back on the field tomorrow when they take on Millikin at 1:00 p.m. and Lake Forest at 3:00 p.m. in Florida.