Mercyhurst took game one on Sunday's Senior Day, non-conference doubleheader at V.E. Erickson Complex, but Pitt-Johnstown answered with a 4-2 win in game two behind
Ashley Pagliei's complete game in the circle and
Maddie Flowers' solo homerun. The Mountain Cats, who got a three-run homerun and four RBI from
Jade Stubblefield on the day, are now 6-20.
Prior to the doubleheader, the Pitt-Johnstown softball program recognized this year's seniors…
Ali Belgiovane,
Kristen Coffay,
Sydney Flinn,
Bree Ginther,
Kristie Radvan,
Jade Stubblefield, and
Stacey Walling.
In game one, Mercyhrust belted three homeruns on its way to the 10-4 victory.
Taylor Mendicino, walked, moved to second on Stubblefield's single, and scored to give Pitt-Johnstown a 1-0 first inning lead on
Stacey Walling's two-out base
hit through the left side.
Mercyhurst tied it on Chloe McQuestion's RBI single in the top of the second, and Cheyenne Hindman's two-run homer to right-center in the Lakers' half of the third made it 3-1.
Pitt-Johnstown quickly regained the lead with three runs in the bottom of the third. After a single by
Olivia Porter and a walk to Mendicino, Stubblefield greeted Mercyhurst reliever Kaitlin Hoffner with a three-run homerun to left field to put the Mountain Cats on top, 4-3.
Mercyhurst scored three more in the top of the fourth, including Madison Fry's two-run triple, before the Lakers broke it open with Hindman's one-out, solo homer and Sarah Koscho's three-run homerun in the top of the seventh that increased it to 10-4.
Stubblefield went 2-for-4 with a three run homerun, while Walling added two hits and an RBI for the Mountain Cats.
Tori Radvan, Porter, and Belgiovane also had hits for Pitt-Johnstown.
Kristen Coffay took the loss and fell to 4-8 after allowing 10 runs on 15 hits in the complete-game.
Hindman homered twice and drove in three, and Koscho hit a solo homer and drove in three for the Lakers.
In game two, the Mountain Cats fell behind early, but scored four unanswered late inning runs to get the split with the 4-2 win.
Mercyhurst jumped out to an early lead with two runs in the top of the first on an RBI groundout by Allison Dejidas and Marisa Cartellone's run-scoring single.
Stubblefield led off with a triple to right in the Mountain Cat half of the fourth and scored on Walling's two-out single up the middle to cut the deficit in half.
Three more runs in the fifth gave Pitt-Johnstown its first lead at 4-2. Flowers connected for a solo homer down the left field line, and Stubblefield drove home Porter and
Tori Radvan drove home Mendicino with back-to-back base hits.
Pagliei got it done in the circle and held the Lakers scoreless the rest of the way.
Pagliei gave up just two runs on six hits in the complete-game to improve to 1-6.
Along with Flowers' solo homer, Stubblefield was 2-for-3 with a triple, an RBI, and a run, and
Tori Radvan banged out two hits and drove in a run. Walling had a hit and an RBI, while Porter and Mendicino each had a hit and scored a run for Pitt-Johnstown.
Hindman took the loss for the Lakers after surrendering four earned runs on seven hits over the first 4.1 innings.
With the Split, Mercyhurst is 12-12.
Tuesday and Wednesday's non-conference games against Millersville and Bowie state (MD) have been canceled. Pitt-Johnstown will host a PSAC Western Division doubleheader against California (PA) on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. at V.E. Erickson Complex, before traveling to Slippery Rock to begin a four-game, home-and-home conference series on Friday.
