Point Park softball came home from Florida and got to play on their home turf at Fairhaven Park in Kennedy Township. These games were conference matchups against Rio Grande and WVU Tech.
The Rio Grande Red Storm was the first opponent on the home schedule. The Pioneers struggled getting on base early in this game, as they went without a hit in the first two innings. However, freshman outfielder Mia Arndt reached base on an error in the second inning. The third inning was the first hit for the Pioneers. Mara Iagnemma batted a single to center field, but the Pioneers became shutout again.
The game continued, and Point Park’s defense and pitching held Rio Grande to only two runs, those coming in the fifth and sixth innings. Still, Point Park could not get bat to ball and did not score any runs in the first game, losing 2-0. Iagnemma went two for two on her at-bats and was the leading hitter in this loss.
Junior outfielder Remi Koi said, “We need to work on putting our hits together in a timely manner, we have such strong bats in the lineup. If we can put our hits together every few innings when we have runners on, we will earn more runs.“
The next game in the doubleheader vs the Red Storm was a different result. Both teams got on base consistently, and Rio finished with 12 hits compared to the Pioneers’ 11 hits.
Interestingly enough, the Pioneers had one less hit but still finished with four more runs and a victory. All of these runs came in the first half of the game, with none of Point Park’s runs being after the fourth inning.
In the first inning, Savannah Lee hit a double to bring Melanie Taylor to home plate and give the Pioneers a 1-0 lead. Hayley O’Neil scored in the second inning on an unearned run caused by a third baseman error. O’Neil followed this up with a hit for a single to bring in Sydney Reese for the team’s third run.
Savannah Lee started off the game with the team’s first runs. She also was the cause of the team’s last runs, as she hit a single to bring in two runners and extend the lead to 5-0. The Red Storm scored their first run on a solo home run in the fifth inning.
The fielding stood out for the Pioneers, as many outfield throws and great plays in the infield is what led to this low score for Rio Grande. The Pioneers then advanced to 6-8 on the season.
The Pioneers softball team next had a home game at WVU Tech. This was another conference game, so the Pioneers needed to prepare.
The Pioneers hit the laces off of the ball, outhitting WVU Tech 10 hits to three. Not only did Point Park get 10 hits, they also got eight runs to light up the scoreboard. Iagnemma scored the first run of the game on an error from WVU Tech’s fielder. In the third inning, Gianni Welsh hit a shot to right field for a triple, bringing in two more runs. Remi Koi got a double of her own in the fourth inning to score Arndt and O’Neil.
The ladies’ scoring came to an end in the sixth inning, but not before they scored three more runs. A double by Gianna Welsh and an error by the center-fielder brought in the eighth and final run.
The Pioneers won this game convincingly with a final score of 8-0. They then prepared to continue this hot rally in the second game of the doubleheader.
Both of these teams finished with eight hits, but Point Park had the exact opposite result of the first matchup against WVU Tech. The Pioneers corraled eight hits but zero runs and lost this game 5-0.
The Golden Bears scored early runs, scoring two runs in the first three innings. Point Park eventually just could not bring a run in, which was a recipe for disaster. They could not score a single run with any ability to tie up the score or take the lead.
Point Park softball lost five to nothing, and now have a record of seven wins and nine losses.
