TUCSON, Ariz. - Continuing its spring break trip at the Tucson Invitational Games, the Franklin & Marshall Softball team dropped a pair of matchups on Sunday afternoon.
Franklin & Marshall 2, St. Catherine 10 (5 innings)
Unable to generate traffic on the bases, the Diplomats were downed by the Wildcats in the day's first game. With the two teams scoreless in the early stages of the game, St. Catherine got on the board in the bottom of the third inning, following a lead-off double and an error the next at-bat. Each of the next two batters then singled to bring in another run before a single and an error two at-bats later brought two more runs home. By the end of the frame, 11 batters came to the plate and a total of seven runs scored.
In the top of the fifth, F&M loaded the bases with two outs to bring
Kaitlin Herrick to the plate, after which she singled to bring in
Maddy Yeingst. With
Sophia Noriega up next, the first-year singled as well to score
Claire Sullivan. However, the rally was halted as
Jaden Spigner was thrown out at home on the play, which ended the inning. In the bottom half of the stanza, three more runs crossed home for the Wildcats which prompted the game to come to a close.
In each of her three plate appearances in the game, Sullivan reached base safely and scored once.
Franklin & Marshall 0, St. John Fisher 7
The offensive struggles continued for the Diplomats in game two, as F&M was shutout by the Cardinals. St. John Fisher struck early, as it saw its first run of the game score two at-bats into the tilt. Later in the inning, Emily McManus and Mari Spitz hit back-to-back doubles to bring in two more runs. The outburst was then capped off with an RBI single three at-bats later, which put the Cardinals up 4-0.
Though the Diplomats put a runner in scoring position in both the second and third innings, they were unable to capitalize each time, leaving them stranded.
Up 5-0 to start the top of the sixth frame, St. John Fisher loaded the bases with one out, after which a single and sacrifice fly scored two more runs to put the exclamation mark on the game.
F&M will have a day off on Monday, but will return to action on Tuesday with games against Webster, Sewanee and Hartford at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. (ET), respectively.
