Softball team sweeps Albion, 3-2 and 6-4, in MIAA-opener

The Olivet College softball team opened Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) play by sweeping a doubleheader from Albion College this afternoon at the Cutler Athletic Complex in Olivet. The Comets won the first game in dramatic fashion, 3-2, and hung on to win the nightcap, 6-4.

In the first game, Albion scored a run in the first inning. Olivet leveled the score at 1-1 with a fifth-inning run. Junior Katie Harper (Vassar) got the inning started with a single to rightfield. Sophomore Nicole Wernette (Remus/Chippewa Valley) entered the game as a pinch runner. A wild pitch moved her to second. After a groundout, a sacrifice bunt by senior Jenny Robbins (Fenton) moved Wernette to third. Sophomore Kelsey Greene (Burr Oak) stepped to the plate and hit a double to the left-center gap to score Wernette. The Britons scored the go-ahead run in the top half of the seventh.

In the bottom half of the seventh, Albion recorded two quick outs on three pitches. Junior Morgan Iloncaie (Port Huron/Imlay City) was then hit by a pitch. Down to her last strike, Robbins lined a 1-2 pitch for a double, scoring Iloncaie with the tying run. The Britons then elected to intentionally walk Greene. Junior Christine Daub (Hudson) walked to load the bases. Freshman Meg Wernowsky (Bellevue) then walked, bringing home Robbins with the game-winning run.

Olivet posted seven hits in the game, including three for Greene. Four others each had a hit. In the circle, Harper earned the win. She went all seven innings, allowing two earned runs on seven hits.

Like the first game, Albion took a 1-0 lead with a run in the first inning of the nightcap. Olivet tied the game at 1-1 with a run in the second. Daub walked to start the inning, went to third on Wernowsky's double and scored on a groundout by sophomore Mallory Schug (Climax/Galesburg-Augusta).

The Comets added to their lead with a four-run fourth inning. Wernowsky led off with a walk. Sophomore Cortney Wernette (Remus/Chippewa Hills) followed with a slap bunt single back to the pitcher. Schug's double just inside the left field line scored both runners. Schug advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Iloncaie's double. Another wild pitch moved Iloncaie to third and then a throwing error allowed her to score.

The Britons got two runs back in the sixth and one more in the seventh. In each inning, they brought the tying run to the plate, but could not dent the scoreboard with any more runs.

Olivet finished the game with seven hits. Greene added two more to give her five for the doubleheader. Iloncaie also had two hits. Schug collected three RBI. In the circle, Greene was the winning pitcher. She went five and two-third innings, giving up three runs on nine hits. Freshman Bre Harmon (Quincy) threw the final one and one-third innings to pick-up her first collegiate save. She surrendered one unearned run on one hit.

The Comets will return to action Saturday when they host Calvin College. First pitch for game one of the doubleheader is 1 p.m.