Softball 5/17/2023 12:00:00 AM

Saints Fall in High-Scoring Affair as USCAAs' Run Ends

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

DUBOIS, Pa. – The 7-seeded D'Youville University softball team used a complete game, zero earned runs pitching performance from Sarah Parzych to defeat Penn St.-New Kensington 5-3 in a United Small Colleges Athletic Association Championship elimination game on Wednesday morning.

The Saints moved on in the loser's bracket against 9-seeded Mississippi University for Women later in the day, jumping out to a 6-0 lead after two innings of play. The Owls answered with an eight-run third and never relinquished the lead on their way to a 14-10 win to eliminate D'Youville.

Game One: DYU 5, PSU-New Kensington 3

Mikayla Bush's bases-loaded sacrifice fly to right field scored Bryanna Dewey to get DYU on the board in the first.
A Saints' error allowed the Lions to tie the game on an infield grounder in the second, 1-1.
DYU got the run right back in the third as Dewey's bunt single and a stolen base with two outs set up Lauren Booth to drive her home on a single to center, 2-1 Saints.
Laura Beck's triple to left to begin the fifth once again set the table for Booth as the Saints tacked on another, 3-1.
Ava Miller started the sixth with a single before Ally Beardi pinch-ran and stole second. Jamie Bower followed with another single to center to open up some breathing room at 4-1.
After the next two DYU hitters were retired, Beck reached safely after a PSU miscue in left that allowed Bower to come around from second and push the margin to four, 5-1.
A Lions' walk and fielder's choice put runners in scoring position with two outs as the next hitter plated both on a single to right center to trim the margin back to two, 5-3 DYU.
The Saints were unable to add any insurance runs in the seventh, but Parzych worked around a pair of two-out Lions singles to seal the 5-3 win.

Inside the Numbers:

Parzych: W (11-10) 7 IP, 7 H, 3 R, BB, 7 Ks
Dewey: 2-4, 2 R, SB
Booth: 2-3, 3B, BB, 2 RBIs

Game Two: MUW 14, DYU 10

Four of the first five DYU batters registered hits in the first, capped by a Bush single to plate two, DYU 2-0.
Back-to-back singles by Miller and Bower to begin the second came around to score on a Bower triple to double the advantage to 4-0 in the second.
Two batters later, Dewey brought home Bower before Booth's 2-out single increased the edge to 6-0 heading to the third.
A hit batter followed by four straight MUW singles cut the deficit to 6-4 in the third.
After a pop-out to short for the second out, MUW recorded four more hits as it batted around in the inning on the way to taking an 8-6 lead.
Beck began the fourth with a single to left and was brought home on Bush's two-out single to trim the margin to one, 8-7 MUW.
The Owls pushed the lead to three, 10-7, in the fifth with a pair of RBI singles.
MUW started the sixth with back-to-back doubles, 11-7, before a sacrifice bunt and another RBI single gave the Owls a six-run edge, 13-7.
Booth's double to center brought Beck home to get one back for the Saints, 13-8, but the Owls got the run right back in the seventh on an RBI groundout.
Hannah Bardeen hit a 2-out solo shot to left, her 11^th home run of the season, kept DYU fighting to the end as Dewey followed with a single to right before Beck's triple brought her home, 14-10 MUW.
The Saints' comeback effort came up short as the next DYU batter grounded out to end the game and finish the USCAAs at 3-2.