Softball team ends season with two losses at 2006 MIAA Tournament

The Olivet College softball team ended its season with a pair of losses today at the 2006 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament. Hope College hosted the tournament at Buys Field in Holland. In their first game, the Comets let a 4-2 lead slip away as they fell to Hope, 5-4. Olivet bowed out of the tournament with a 9-1 loss to Alma College.

The Flying Dutch took a 1-0 lead on an unearned run in the fifth inning. Olivet tied the game at 1-1 in the top half of the sixth inning. Freshman Katie Walker (Lansing/Everett) led off the frame with a single. A sacrifice bunt and single by freshman Danielle Martin (Lansing/Catholic Central) moved Walker over to third base. Sophomore Jessica Schmansky (Clarkston/ Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes) ripped a single up the middle to score Walker.

Hope answered with a single tally in its half of the sixth. Walker hit a three-run homer over the centerfield fence to give the Comets a 4-2 lead in the seventh inning. The Dutch came back and won the game with three runs in the bottom half of the seventh. The tying and game-winning run came around to score on a bloop hit with two outs in the inning.

At the plate, Olivet had eight hits, including two by Walker. Six others had a hit a piece. On the mound, senior Erica Anderson (Casnovia/Kent City) suffered the loss, yielding 10 hits in six and two-third innings.

Against Alma, the Scots used three hits and three Comet errors to score eight runs in the third inning. Alma added another run in the top half of the fifth inning. Freshman Kacey Darling (Hartford) broke up the shutout with a home run in Olivet's half of the fifth.

For the game, the Comets were limited to two hits – Darling's homer and a single by freshman Christina Luna (Charlotte). In the circle, sophomore Kim Green (Portland) was tagged with the loss. She pitched the first two innings, allowing four runs on two hits. In relief, freshman Corie Greene (Brown City) tossed two innings, giving up fours runs (one earned) on three hits. Anderson pitched the last inning.

Under the direction of third-year Head Coach James Farnum, Olivet finishes its season with a 24-12 overall record. The Comets broke the single-season records for most wins (24), triples (21) and home runs (22).