Softball team loses season-opening games at Legacy Center

BRIGHTON, Mich. – The Olivet College softball team lost its season-opening games today inside the Legacy Center in Brighton. The Comets fell to Madonna University, 19-11, and Cleary University, 11-1.

Final Score: Madonna 19, Olivet 11
Location: Legacy Center; Brighton, Mich.
Records: Madonna 5-2 overall, Olivet 0-1 overall

• The Crusaders took advantage of four Comet errors to score nine runs in the top half of the first inning.
• Olivet got one back in the bottom half of the first when freshman Kaylee Clothier's RBI-single brought home senior Andrea Rico.
• Madonna answered with single tallies in the second and third innings.
• The Comets scored another run in the last half of the fourth when junior Jazmin Hildebrand blasted a solo home run.
• The Crusaders needed only three hits to push across eight runs in the fifth inning.
• Olivet did not go down quietly in its half of the fifth, sending 12 batters to the plate and scoring nine runs. Rico led off the inning with a home run and capped off the inning with a grand slam home run deep over the fence in center field. Also in the inning, Hildebrand hit a two-run homer.

• For the game, Olivet totaled 10 hits.
• Rico was 3-for-4 with a double, two home runs and five RBI.
• Hildebrand hit the two home runs and had three RBI.
• Junior Taylor Shellenberger also collected two hits, including a double.
• Four pitchers combined to throw the five innings. Shellenberger was tagged with the loss. She started and lasted only an inning, giving up nine runs (five earned) on seven hits.

• Madonna recorded 15 hits.
• Montana Spears was 3-for-5.
• Selena Deault, Amy Clegg, Haley Izworski and Emma Sikina each recorded two hits.
• Alyssa Fessenden threw the first four and one-third innings to pick-up the win.

Final Score: Cleary 11, Olivet 1
Location: Legacy Center; Brighton, Mich.
Records: Cleary 5-1 overall, Olivet 0-2 overall

• The Cougars plated three runs in the first, four runs in the second, three runs in the third and one run in the fifth to take an 11-0 lead.
• Olivet scored its only run in the bottom half of the fifth inning. Sophomore Kayla Blett led off with a single before advancing to second on a ground out and third on another ground out. Sophomore Erin Scanlon ripped a two-out single to score Blett.

• Olivet had only three hits in the game. The lone extra-base hit was a double by Rico.
• Junior Gracie Boyle was charged with the pitching loss. She yielded 10 runs on 10 hits over the first two and two-thirds innings. Rico finished the game in relief and surrendered one run on one hit in two and one-third innings.

• Liz Stockert was 3-for-3 with three RBI.
• Kaitlin Dormire had two hits and scored three runs.
• Jordan Schneider also notched two hits and three RBI.
• Natalie O'Reilly gave up just one hit in four innings to earn the pitching win.

• Olivet returns to action next Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 23-24, at the Grand Slam Triangle Classic in Cary, North Carolina.