PITTSBURGH, Pa. - April 4, 2023 - Chatham Softball hosted Grove City tonight in a PAC doubleheader at West Field. Both games were hard-fought by both teams, but Grove City would ultimately take both by scores of 10-7 and 8-7.
Game one stretched to ten innings thanks to stellar defense by both squads. On the scoring front, the Cougars would strike first thanks to senior Mackenzie Dunn, who crossed the plate on a passed ball.
Grove City would score three straight before Chatham's offense picked back up in the fourth inning, starting with an RBI single from senior Justine Boyle. She was followed by graduate student Kyley Fijalkowski's double, which allowed graduate student Kelsey Benjamin and senior Justine Boyle to score. Senior Lauren Haak would tally two RBIs on her next hit in that same inning, scoring junior Savanna Ahlborn, senior Alyssa Hoffman, and Fijalkowski.
Grove City would catch up in the sixth, and no one would score for another four innings. The Wolverines would find success in the top of the tenth, scoring four runs. Chatham's half of that inning was not as successful, with Boyle scoring off of a Kelsey Benjamin single for the sole run.
Hoffman would be the lone Cougar with two hits in the first game and Haak led the Cougars with two RBIs. Dunn and Boyle scored two runs apiece.
In the circle, first-year Victoria Murren got the start, striking out six batters in 5.1 innings pitched. Classmate Chelsea Stabile would pitch the remaining 4.2 innings and suffer the loss.
Game two saw an early Wolverine beginning in the first, which Haak would even out while scoring on a passed ball. Grove City would score three runs in the second, followed by two in the third.
The Cougars would reclaim some runs in the third in the form of a Justine Boyle two-RBI triple, followed by a single from Fijalkowski to score Boyle.
Grove City would pull ahead for the final time in the fifth, adding their seventh and eighth runs. Chatham would have a productive fifth inning as well, scoring three runs thanks to plate efforts by Mackenzie Dunn, Kaitlyn Collins, and Justine Boyle. Unfortunately, the Cougars' scoring would stop at seven.
Murren, entering in relief for the third inning, struck out ten Wolverines, totaling 16 strikeouts on the night.
Lauren Haak had a team-high three hits in game two, followed by Collins with two. Justine Boyle tallied a team-high two RBIs in the loss.
The Cougars sit at 4-18 overall and 1-7 in conference. They will host Allegheny College in another PAC doubleheader on Friday, April 7th starting at 6:30 PM.
