Softball team ends season with Senior Day doubleheader

OLIVET, Mich. – The Olivet College softball team closed out the 2023 season with a pair of losses to Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) foe Alma College, 16-1 and 16-2, today at the Cutler Athletic Complex. Between games, the Comets recognized seniors Jessica Barnes and Erin Brady, who played in their final collegiate softball games.

• Final Scores: Alma 16, Olivet 1 (5); Alma 16, Olivet 2 (5)
• Location: Cutler Athletic Complex; Olivet, Michigan
• Records: Olivet 0-24 overall, 0-16 MIAA; Alma 23-16 overall, 12-4 MIAA

• The Scots scored four runs in the first inning, followed by one run in the second and four runs in the fourth inning to take a 9-0 lead.
• Barnes broke up the shutout in the home half of the fourth inning when she hit a solo home run over the fence in center field.
• Alma sent 12 batters to the plate and pushed across seven runs in the fifth inning.
• Olivet tallied just three hits in the game. In addition to Barnes' home run, juniors Brielle Broderick and Meredith Morell each had one hit.
• For Alma, Taylor Griffith was 3-for-3 with a double, two singles, two walks, four runs scored and two RBI from the leadoff spot in the lineup. Emma Fraser and Danielle Dumoulin collected two hits apiece. Dumoulin finished the game with a team-best five RBI. Daniella Little earned the pitching win.

• The Comets scored their first run in the top of first. Brady led off with a single, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and came around to score on Barnes' single.
• The Scots answered with 11 runs over the next three innings – five in the first, four in the second and two in the third – to go up 11-1.
• Olivet plated its final run in the fourth inning. Sophomore Summer Smith hit a leadoff double and scored after back-to-back ground outs by freshman Mattie Akom and Broderick.
• Alma tallied five runs in the fourth frame and retired the Comets 1-2-3 in the fifth to end the game early.
• At the plate, Barnes went 2-for-3. Brady scored a run, hit a single and walked once.
• For the Scots, 11 players combined for 17 hits. Aynslee Koutz was 3-for-4 with two doubles, three runs scored and two RBI. Fraser also recorded three hits, including two triples, and drove in three runs.