Drury Can't Finish Rally In Loss To Pittsfield
NORTH ADAMS, Mass — The Drury softball team was able to overcome its slow start on Monday. Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, they weren't able to recover from Pittsfield's fantastic finish.With one out in the top of the sixth inning, Kelsey Manns drilled a single past Drury third baseman Katie Hancock, scoring Paige Lovellette to give the Generals a 5-4 win at Francis Millard Field. Pittsfield's victory not only ruined the Blue Devils' comeback from a 4-0 deficit, but it also put the Generals one game ahead of Drury in the North Division standings.
If the Blue Devils (9-2, 6-2) want to look for a reason why they're in second place in the standings today, they just need to revisit the top of the first inning when Pittsfield (11-2, 7-1) scored four quick runs courtesy of two hits and a couple of errors. Mary Ann Maroni's club did a nice job of rallying, however, scoring two runs each in the second and third frames to tie the game at four runs apiece.
The Drury offense got to Generals' starter Sarah Rayner (nine strikeouts, six walks) with three consecutive singles in the bottom of the second inning. Lyndsey DeGrenier and Cat Record started things off with back-to-back singles before Danielle Cardinal drove DeGrenier home with the Devils' third hit in a row. Junior Allison Gageant then grounded into a fielder's choice to score another run, cutting the visitors' lead down to 4-2.
Drury struck again in the next frame when junior Amanda Ramsdell got on base with a one-out walk. Rayner then got the next out, but Record followed with an RBI triple in the next at bat, scoring Ramsdell to pull the hosts within one run. An error by the Pittsfield second baseman allowed Record to score and tie the game.
Rayner didn't allow another run from that point on, however, as the Blue Devils struggled by going 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position. Lovellette, who went 2-for-3 with two runs scored, then got on with a one-out walk in the sixth. After another walk and a double steal, Manns came up with the big hit past Hancock, who was playing in at the corner.
"We had a little lethargy in the first inning that gave PHS a 4-0 lead," Maroni said. "After the first inning, Cat settled down and allowed only three additional hits, scattering them in the second, third and sixth innings. We, unfortunately, could not get the timely hits, leaving nine runners on base throughout the game. We had the bases loaded in the second, runners on first and third in the sixth and runners on second and third in the seventh."
The seventh inning was particularly frustrating for Drury, which had runners at first and second with only one out. Rayner buckled down, however, and got the last two batters to strike out to end the game.
Record started for the Blue Devils and took just her second loss of the season, allowing three earned runs on five hits, striking out seven and walking five. Drury faces another tough North Division opponent on Wednesday, when they play at Wahconah at 4 p.m.