Softball team wins twice at Gene Cusic Classic

The Olivet College softball team won two games today in its final day of competition at the Gene Cusic Classic in Fort Myers, Fla. In their first game, the Comets defeated Rochester (N.Y.) Institute of Technology, 6-1. In the second game, Olivet rallied from a 5-1 deficit to beat Worcester (Mass.) Polytechnic Institute, 7-5. The Comets end their Spring Break trip with a 9-3 record.

Against RIT, Olivet scored a run in the first inning. The Tigers tied the game at 1-1 with an unearned run in the second. The Comets grabbed the lead back with a run in the third and scored four more runs in the bottom half of the sixth inning. With the bases loaded in the sixth, sophomore Heidi Wear (Hastings/Wayland Union) cleared them with a double over the centerfielder's head. RIT went down in order in the seventh.

At the plate, sophomore Anna Braner (Belmond, Iowa/Marshall) and junior Amy Cooper (Bath) each had two hits. Cooper drove in two runs. In the circle, senior Danielle Kapral (Lapeer/East) tossed a complete game, three-hitter. She walked one and struck out one.

After six innings, WPI had a 5-1 lead. Olivet scored six runs, including five with two outs, in the top half of the seventh inning. The six-run rally was started by sophomore Kacey Darling (Hartford) hitting a home run. Sophomore Alisha Ridsdale (Laingsburg) reached base on an infield single. She came around to score on a home run by sophomore Christina Luna (Charlotte).

The rally continued as senior Shannon Hall (Taylor/Truman) reached first base on a hit, which just fell in front of the WPI rightfielder. A wild pitch moved Hall up to second base. Sophomore Cassie Bowerman (Quincy) came in as a pinch runner for Hall. Wear stepped up to the plate and hit a single to score Bowerman with the tying run. On the throw home, Wear moved up to second base. Another wild pitch allowed Wear to advance to third.

Sophomore Kacie Rosecrants (Parma/Western) walked to put runners on the corners. On the next pitch, Rosecrants stole second base. On a full count, freshman Kelley Rybicki (Springport) ripped a single into the left-centerfield gap, scoring Wear and Rosecrants.

Luna and Ridsdale finished the game with two hits a piece. Ridsdale scored two runs and five other players each scored a run. Luna collected two RBI. In the circle, sophomore Corie Greene (Brown City) gained the win, scattering 10 hits in seven innings of work. She struck out three and walked one.

Olivet returns to Michigan and will play a non-conference doubleheader Tuesday, March 13 at Manchester (Ind.) College at 3 p.m.

NOTE: With her home run today, Darling has tied the Olivet career record for homers with nine. Beth Shunkwiler also hit nine homers from 2004-05.