Softball Began Inaugural Season Sunday - 13abc.com Toledo (OH) News, Weather and Sports

Softball Began Inaugural Season Sunday

Lourdes softball team made its collegiate debut on Sunday afternoon, dropping a pair of games in Clermont, Fla. at the National Training Center.  The Gray Wolves battled in both, falling to Clark 7-6 in nine innings in the opener before dropping a 10-9 decision to Point Park in game two.

"Overall I was very pleased with how we competed today," head coach Jo Ann Gordon said.  "We did some good things and learned from our first time out on the diamond."

Lourdes wasted little time taking the lead against Clarke, scoring single runs in each of the first four innings.  Megan Mosiniak (Swanton, Ohio/Evergreen H.S.) singled home the first run in school history in the bottom of the first, scoring Chelsea Goebel (Archbold, Ohio/Archbold H.S.), who also had the first hit for the Gray Wolves.

Lauren Marstin (Brookneal, Va./William Campbell H.S.) added a RBI single in the second and Leslie Hafler (Randolph, Ohio/Waterloo H.S.) picked up a RBI in the third, reaching on an error.  Marstin's second RBI hit of the game in the fourth inning made it 4-0 Lourdes.

Clarke (1-0) tied the game with four runs in the fifth, taking advantage of three Lourdes errors.  Maribeth Vasquez had a two-run double which knotted the game at four.

The game stayed tied into extra innings, in which the international tie-breaker was used.  Both teams started off the inning with a runner on second, and Clarke immediately scored in the eighth to take the lead.  Hillary West (Walbridge, Ohio/Lake H.S.) tied the game, scoring Taylor Derr (Toledo, Ohio/Whitmer H.S.), who was placed on second base.

In the ninth the Crusaders broke through with two runs.  A single followed by a double gave Clarke the advantage which they would not surrender.  Lourdes got one run back on Goebel scored on a first and third steal opportunity, but that would be the only run the Gray Wolves would plate in the inning.

Marstin went 4-for-5 with two runs batted in in the opener while Goebel had three hits as part of the Gray Wolves' 11-hit attack.  Despite giving up just one earned run in nine innings, Kasey Graham (Oregon, Ohio/Clay H.S.) suffered the loss (0-1).  She walked just two and struck out 10 while allowing nine hits.  Danielle Stralow earned the win (1-0) for Clarke, pitching six innings of relief.

In game two it was Point Park (1-0) that struck first.  The Pioneers plated a pair of runs in the opening inning before Bre Megyesi (Whitehouse, Ohio/Anthony Wayne H.S.) hit the Gray Wolves' first home run, a solo shot to left in the second inning.

Point Park added three more runs in the second before Lourdes answered with three runs in the third.  West scored on a bases loaded illegal pitch and Megyesi brought home two more runs with a single, making it 5-4.

The Pioneers added a single run on a wild pitch in the fifth before scoring four times in the sixth to build a 10-4 lead.  Lourdes tried to battle back in the seventh, falling just one run short.  Goebel had a RBI triple to start the scoring and Brittany Potts (Gibsonburg, Ohio/Gibsonburg H.S.) followed with a run-scoring pinch-hit single.  Megyesi capped the scoring and her 4-for-4 game with her second home run of the contest, a three-run blast to straight away center.

Goebel also had two hits in the game for Lourdes, as the Gray Wolves pounded out 10 for the contest.  Casey Cherry (Comstock Park, Mich./Comstock Park H.S.) suffered the loss (0-1) in the circle, allowing nine runs, six earned, and eight hits in five innings of work.  Kristen Zelenka picked up the win (1-0) for Point Park while Sarah Urcheck came on to retire the final two batters of the game to earn the save.