After a 2-12 start to the season, Saint Mary’s softball has flipped a switch over the past week. The Belles have now won six consecutive games for the first time in six years, most recently sweeping Kalamazoo with 2-0 and 5-4 home wins on Saturday.
As those final scores indicate, pitching sits at the forefront of the Belles’ newfound success. Allowing just two runs per game during the win streak, Saint Mary’s has pitched two shutouts and twice conceded only one run.
The trend of strong pitching peaked on Saturday, with senior starting pitchers Libby Bierbaum and Caitlin Traxler each throwing complete games against Kalamazoo. But they were more than just complete games. Bierbaum and Traxler gave up just one total earned run on the day, giving the Belles a great chance to win, and win they did.
In game one’s 2-0 win, Bierbaum shut out the Hornets across seven innings, allowing six hits and striking out one. But her day could have played out very differently with some of Kalamazoo’s chances early on. In the second inning, the Hornets failed to bring home a leadoff double, stranding two runners on base. A frame later, they came up empty with the bases loaded and one out. Kalamazoo then left another runner in scoring position in the fourth inning.
A score that easily could have opened up to 4-0 Kalamazoo remained 0-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning. That’s when Saint Mary’s made the Hornets pay for their inability to execute. With two runners aboard and two outs, sophomore designated player Sam Mikitka singled home senior first baseman McKenna Myers for what would stand as the game-winning run.
Two innings later, after Bierbaum again stranded two Hornets in scoring position in the fifth, the Belles doubled their lead. With a runner on second and two away once again, a throwing error by Kalamazoo second baseman Brynna Garden plated sophomore outfielder Leah Zimmerman.
Working with a two-run lead for the first time, Bierbaum used her only strikeout on the day to work a scoreless, game-ending seventh inning in the circle. In doing so, she picked up her team-leading sixth complete game of the season, improving her record to 4-6.
In game two, a one-run Saint Mary’s victory, the Belles offense stepped forward as a difference-maker. That started on the third pitch of the game, which freshman shortstop Mary Charniak belted over the left-field fence. The home run, the Belles’ first of the season and the first of Charniak’s career, handed Saint Mary’s an immediate lead.
But Kalamazoo would storm right back with four runs across its first two offensive innings. In both the first and second, Saint Mary’s made an error on defense, helping the Hornets to a 4-1 advantage with three unearned runs. The Belles answered with a run in the third, as Traxler helped herself out in the circle with a run-scoring sacrifice fly.
In the fifth, Saint Mary’s tied the game with a pair of runs. With two outs, senior second baseman Rylee Hershberger and Myers clubbed back-to-back doubles, bringing the score to 4-4. Traxler then worked around leadoff singles in both the sixth and seventh frames, pushing the game to extra innings.
To start extras, Bierbaum continued her heroic day with a leadoff single, her fourth hit of the game. An error then moved her to third before a groundout by freshman right fielder Madi Ingolia scored her as the go-ahead run.
In the bottom of the eighth, Traxler issued a leadoff walk, but a lineout double play quickly erased the baserunner. Traxler then induced a groundout to second that ended the game, securing a Saint Mary’s sweep.
Now 8-12 overall and 4-2 in MIAA play, the Belles will hit the road this week for doubleheaders at Trine on Wednesday and Manchester on Thursday. Both doubleheaders will have first pitch times of 3 and 5 p.m.
