CLERMONT, Fla. – Grinnell College's softball team got the bats going early and often Sunday, but fell just short of wins in two games while opening its spring break trip in Florida.
Grinnell ripped 10 hits in the opener, a 10-6 loss to Springfield College of Massachusetts and had 10 more in a 10-7 setback to St. Joseph's-Long Island on chilly day at Legends Way.
The opener was a game of spurts that saw Springfield erupt for five runs in the third inning for a 5-1 lead, only to see the Pioneers rally with five runs in the fourth to go up. However, Springfield scored solo runs in the fourth and fifth and three more in the sixth to secure the win.
The Pioneers' hitting attack was led by two-hit efforts from
Leila Bishop-Parise '21,
Darice Wheeler '21 and
Mikyla Murphy '19. Wheeler added to her career school record total for home runs with her first round-tripper of the season and also tripled, as did
Sidney Litke '19.
Maddie Matsubara '22, who is already showing fine glove work at shortstop, added a double.
Wheeler broke a scoreless tie in the second inning when she belted a solo homer over the right-field fence. After Springfield had its outburst, Grinnell came back in the fourth as
Flynn Johnson '21 hit a two-run single to center, Murphy had an RBI single up the middle, Litke drove in a run with a triple to right and Bishop-Parise pushed a run-scoring single through the right side for a 5-1 lead.
That's when Springfield countered in the later innings to improve to 2-0 on the season.
Elle Adams '22 had a no-hitter in the third inning and worked five overall while suffering the loss.
While the first game was a marathon that took more than two hours, the second was even more as it lasted just under three hours. After falling behind 4-1, Grinnell scratched its way back into a tie with one run in the fourth and two more in the fifth. St. Joseph's countered with five runs in the sixth and the Pioneers got three back in the bottom of the inning but could get no closer.
Matsubara,
Emily Jordan '19 and Litke each had two hits for Grinnell. Wheeler had a triple in the game and Matsubara a double.
St. Joseph's went up 1-0 in the first, but Wheeler's RBI triple to center in the bottom of the inning tied it. Grinnell tied things again midway through when Murphy reached on an error to score a run in the fourth, Johnson had a sacrifice fly in the fifth and
Mya Davis '21 had an RBI single to left in the same inning to make it 4-all.
Later, down 9-4, Grinnell got runs in the sixth when Wheeler reached base on an error, Matsubara came across on another fielding miscue and Wehrenberg pushed across a run via a fielder's choice.
St. Joseph's added an insurance run in the seventh to improve to 3-2 on the season.
Maddie Draper '22, the second of three Grinnell pitchers, got the loss.
Grinnell, 0-4, has games against Bowdoin College and Tufts University on Monday.
