KISSIMMEE, Fla. – Mount Union's softball team won both of their games on the fourth day of their Florida trip, beating Coast Guard 6-1 and Misericordia 10-6 on Thursday.
The Bears (6-2) struck first when Katie Becker hit a sacrifice fly to center field that scored Mariah Dewey to take a 1-0 lead. The Purple Raiders (5-3) would answer with a massive fifth inning, scoring four runs in the inning. Junior
Michaela Folks (Wooster) started things off with an RBI single, then freshman
Kaitlyn Culver (Akron / Springfield) scored after a dropped third strike and an error from the Coast Guard catcher. Freshman
Sydney Mercer (Beloit / West Branch) hit single to left field that brought home freshman
Faith Reicosky (North Canton / Hoover) and then Mercer scored after another dropped third strike and error from the Bears catcher to give Mount Union a 4-1 lead. The Raiders would then add two more runs in the top half of the seventh inning with RBIs coming from freshmen
Kendyll Cahill (Columbus / Grove Port Madison) and
Faith Kiko (North Canton / Hoover) as Mount Union would go on to win 6-1.
Cahill got the start in the circle for the Raiders and pitched a complete game giving up just one run on seven hits and striking out four to pick up her third win of the season.
Mount Union got off to a fast start against Misericordia in their second game of the day, as they scored five runs in the bottom of the first inning. Reicosky got it started with an RBI single that scored Culver then sophomore
Adri George (Eastlake / North) brought home Reicosky with a sacrifice RBI. Then, Mercer scored on an error followed by a Folks RBI that scored freshman
Sami Swartz (Columbus / Grandview Heights) and then Folks scored on an error to give the Raiders a 5-0 lead.
The Cougars (4-3) would come storming back in the fourth inning scoring five runs of their own with RBIs coming from Gianna Russo, Emma Griffin and Emily Susanj tying the game at five runs apiece. Mount Union would reclaim the lead in the bottom half of the inning coming off an RBI single from Reicosky that scored sophomore
Lydia Wacker (Wellington / Black River) and freshman
Lydia Brunner (Minerva) to take a 7-5 lead. The Raiders would add three more runs in the bottom half of the fifth, the first two coming off a two-run homerun from Kiko and then later in the inning Folks scored after a throwing error from the Cougar third baseman. Misericordia would score a run in the seventh inning off an RBI single from Susanj but it wouldn't be enough as Mount Union would go on to win 10-6.
Freshman
Chloe Bird (Norton) got the start in the circle for the Raiders, and she gave up four runs, three earned on five hits and struck out two on the way to her first career win. Sophomore
Becca Landis (Vienna / Matthews) came in to pitch the final 3.2 innings in relief and gave up two runs, one earned on eight hits and struck out five.
The Raiders wrap up their Florida trip tomorrow with two more games, taking on Illinois at 9 a.m. and Kenyon at 11:30 a.m. in Kissimmee, Fla.
