Today's games against Kalamazoo College will decide whether or not the Belles advance into the conference tournament.
After dropping last night's game at Bethel 4-0, Saint Mary's is 15-18 on the year and 7-5 in the conference.
Currently fifth in the conference, the Belles must win both games at Kalamazoo, a team that hasn't won a conference game this season. Still, the Belles cannot afford to take the doubleheader for granted. Albion stands in fourth place and plays its final conference doubleheader this Saturday. Saint Mary's must avoid a tiebreaker because of a subpar overall record.
The Belles failed to score a run as the Royals gradually added to their lead Wednesday. Libby Wilhelmy and Kate Sajewich kept the Belles within striking distance, but the offense never capitalized.
Bethel went up 1-0 in the first inning as a double to center field scored the first run of the game. Saint Mary's connected on a single off the bat of Marnie Walsh but stranded her on second, unable to bring in the run.
The Royals added another in the second after a costly error helped them score. Saint Mary's could not respond and the score remained 2-0.
In the fourth inning, Sajewich replaced Wilhelmy on the mound only to give up Bethel's third run of the game; however, the damage could have been worse as Sajewich escaped a three-hit inning, still giving the Belles a chance.
The last run came in the sixth on a sacrifice bunt putting Bethel up 4-0. Angie Ellison singled with two outs in the bottom of the inning, but the end result was the same without any runs being scored.
Saint Mary's finished the game with three hits and one error.
Today's final doubleheader begins at 3:30 p.m. and will determine the rest of the season for the Belles. If the team wins both contests, Saint Mary's will await the outcome of the Albion-Hope came this weekend.
