Ft. Myers, Fla. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford picked up two more wins on Friday, sweeping the competition aside on their fourth day of action in Fort Myers, Fla. They scored in the 7th to win 4-3 over RIT and held on to a late lead to beat NJCU 4-2 in their nightcap.
Game 1:
After falling behind in the first, the Panthers rallied to take a 2 run lead but saw it disappear by the 5th. They were able to push a final run across in the 7t to win the game.
- Pitt-Bradford fell behind the Tigers in the first as starting pitcher Ashley Steele induced a ground ball with 2 on and 2 outs, but a throwing error allowed the lead runner to score.
- The Panthers were resilient and came right back to tie the game in the top of the 2nd. Lexi Peters was hit by a pitch leading off the inning and moved to second on an Imani Jackson sacrifice bunt. Paige Wertheimer grounded a single through the left side and KT Marx brought Peters in with an RBI groundout to second.
- Despite a leadoff walk in the bottom of the inning the Panthers turned a double play on a popped-up bunt to get out of the inning unscathed. They took advantage of the momentum switch, scoring two more in the 3rd. Dolcey Shunk drew a walk to lead off the inning and moved to second on a groundout. She scored when Daytona Wentzel drove a single through the left side. Wentzel was able to move to second on the throw home and took third on a wild pitch. After a strikeout, Peters came through with a clutch single into center to put the Panthers up 3-1.
- Steele got out of trouble in the 3rd, as she battled through a fielding error and a single to strand two runners. She was not so lucky in the 4th. With two outs, Steele allowed a single down the left-field line and a walk. She then gave up another single to right that was misplayed in the outfield, allowing both runners to score and tie the game.
- After a scoreless 5th for the Panthers Ashley Stein entered the game in relief and quickly got three groundouts. She repeated the feat in the 6th, setting down the side in order with a fly ball, pop up, and lineout.
- In the 7th, Dolcey Shunk hustled her way to a one-out double after a hit to right-center dropped between the outfielders. She moved to third on a single to right by Faith McLaughlin and after a shallow fly out to left that was unable to score the run, pulled off a double steal to take the lead.
- Kindra Wessels came into the game in the bottom of the 7th looking to slam the door shut. She retired the side in order, striking out the leadoff batter and retiring the next two batters on a ground out to third and a fly ball to left to end the game.
Ashley Stein picked up the win after throwing two perfect innings in relief. Kindra Wessels notched her first career save in a 1-2-3 7th. Starting pitcher Lindsay Steele received a no-decision, but allowed 3 runs, 1 earned, on 5 hits, and 2 walks in 4.0 innings. She struck out two.
Offensively, Lexi Peters was the lone Panther to record a multi-hit game. She had 2 singles, a run scored, and an RBI. Dolcey Shunk had the only extra-base hit and scored two runs, including the game-winner on a double steal.
Game 2:
After a lengthy delay between games, the Panthers were able to come out on top in a tight game against New Jersey City, The Panthers came away with a 4-2 victory.
- In the first two innings of play, the Panthers were able to get a runner in scoring position with one out but were unable to bring them around to score. In the meantime, starting pitcher Meghan Kapp limited the Gothic Knights to one single in the 1st.
- The Panthers struck first, scoring two runs in the 3rd. Faith McLaughlin led off the inning by beating out an infield single. The Panthers then got some luck as on a Rachel Przybysz sacrifice bunt, the NJCU catcher threw the ball away, skipping along the fence line which allowed McLaughlin to score all the way from first. Przybysz scored the second run of the inning a batter later when Peters grounded a single through the left side of the infield.
- With a runner on and one out, the Panthers caught a bad break. Chloe Cordova drove a ball deep towards the right-field corner. It beat the NJCU outfielder, but rolled through the opening in the gate in foul territory, limiting Cordova to a ground-rule double, and stopping Peters at 3rd. On the next play, Steele reached on a fielder's choice that resulted in two rundowns, with Cordova getting tagged out returning to second base.
- With a two-run lead, Kapp returned to the circle for the 3rd but was unable to come away without allowing a run. After allowing a leadoff single, Kapp retired back-to-back batters, but then struggled with her control, walking the next three batters in a row to force in a run. She was replaced by Kindra Wessels, who was able to get an inning-ending pop up to short.
- In the 4th, the Panthers were unable to take advantage of a two-out Faith McLaughlin double down the left-field line and were punished as the Gothic Knights knotted the game at two in the bottom of the inning. Wessels gave up a lead-off single and after a wild pitch and sacrifice bunt moved the runner to third, an RBI groundout allowed the runner to score and tie the game at 2.
- Pitt-Bradford retook the lead in the 5th thanks to some shaky defense from the Gothic knights. Lexi Peters led off the game with a single to center and then moved to second when Cordova reached on an error. Marguerite DeFranco drew a walk to load the bases with two outs before Imani Jackson hit a grounder to short that was bobbled for an error, and then thrown away for a second. This allowed two runs to score for the Panthers.
- Wessels threw a 1-2-3 5th, ut ran into trouble in the 6th after a double play on a fly ball to right ended the top half of the inning. Wessels walked the leadoff batter and then saw the next batter reach on an error. Wessels induced a fielder's choice that forced out the lead runner but uncorked a wild pitch that allowed both runners to move into scoring position. Wessels struck out the batter for the 2nd out of the inning but walked the next to load the bases. She was able to get the next batter to hit a routine fly to left field where McLaughlin caught the ball and ended the frame.
- Pitt-Bradford was retired in order in the 7th, sending Wessels back to the circle with a two-run lead. Wessels was able to get two consecutive groundouts to Shunk at third base, before inducing a fly ball to defensive replacement Madison Camp in right field to end the game.
Kindra Wessels (2-3) picked up the win after allowing 1 earned run on 1 hit and 2 walks in 4.1 innings of work. Meghan Kapp got a no-decision after allowing 1 earned run on 2 hits and 3 walks in 2.2 innings pitched. Peters and McLaughlin both posted multi-hit games, with Peters collecting the lone RBI in the game for Pitt-Bradford. McLaughlin and Chloe Cordova both had doubles and scored a run for the Panthers.
The win moves the Panthers to 3-9 on the season and marks a 3-game winning streak. They will be back in action tomorrow as they are scheduled to play Western Connecticut State and SUNY Delhi, The games were originally scheduled for 9:00 and 11:00 a.m., but have been moved up to begin at 8:00 nd 10:00 a.m. The second matchup of the day will contain a familiar face as 2016 Pitt-Bradford Alum and former assistant coach Meagan Stone (Hillard) leads the Broncos against her old team and ball coach.