St. Louis – The Maryville softball team fell victim to a pair of late inning come-backs as the Saints dropped a pivotal Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader to Bellarmine University Friday night at Weber Field. The Knights scored times in the seventh inning to win the opener, 6-4 and scored four runs in the seventh of the nightcap to sweep the twinbill, 6-3.
After the Knights scored a pair of the runs in the top of the first inning to take a 2-0 lead, the Saints hung a crooked number of their own in the third inning as
Ashley Marks drilled a two-out double to left center to jump start the Maryville attack.
Kelsey Martin then delivered a single to left center to score Marks and cut the Bellarmine lead to 2-1.
Courtney Ferguson followed with a double of her own to center field to score Martin and tie the contest at 2-2.
Sheridon Sprague gave Maryville the lead when she reached base on an error and Ferguson came home to score as it gave the Saints the advantage at 3-2.
The Knights battled back to tie the game at 3-3 in the top of the fifth inning, but Maryville answered right back in the sixth with Ferguson smashing her second double of the day to left field and moved up to third on a ground out. Taylor came to the dish and delivered a sacrifice fly to deep center field to score Ferguson and give the Saints a 4-3 lead. Bellarmine took control of the game in the top of the seventh with a three run out-burst to take a 6-4 lead and put the Saints down in order in the home half of the inning to win the first game of the doubleheader.
Taylor fell to 13-10 on the year by going seven innings and giving up six runs on 10 hits and striking out eight Knight batters. Ferguson paced the Saints with two hits and scored a pair of runs in the loss.
After being held scoreless in the first inning, the Saints grabbed the lead in the second as
Emily Frankenreiter singled up the middle and advanced to second when Sidney Halleen was hit by a pitch. Maryville loaded the bases with a Marks walk and took the lead as Ferguson singled to right center to score a pair of runs to take a 2-0 lead. The Saints extended their lead in the third inning as
Casey Ward launched her second home run of the year to straight away center field to give Maryville a 3-0 advantage.
The Knights offense came alive as Bellarmine scored two runs in the fifth and four runs in the seventh inning to take a 6-3 advantage that would hold up to give the Knights a doubleheader sweep.
Sprague suffered the loss in two innings of work, while giving up four runs on four hits in the contest. Ferguson continued to swing a hot bat for the Saints as she went 1-for-3 with two runs batted in while Martin and Frankenreiter each added two hits for Maryville, who dropped to 22-26 on the year and 12-16 in conference action.
The Saints wrap-up the regular season Sunday, April 30, as the University of Southern Indiana invades Weber Field for a doubleheader set to begin at noon.
