The Wilmington College softball continued to battle, but come up short, getting swept by Mount St. Joseph in non-conference action at the Wilmington Softball Complex.
"The thing I love about this team is that they are going to play hard all seven innings," said Wilmington head coach Beth Floyd. "They are not going to lie down and feel sorry for themselves. They are going to scrap all the way through. We are going to start winning some ball games."
With the losses, Wilmington has lost four straight since returning from Florida.
"We've learned a lot in the last two days, as well as in Florida," said Floyd. "We have a lot of young players on the team. We have a lot of potential to do a lot of good things. I see them learning and getting better every day. We just have to string some hits together and make a couple more defensive plays and we will be right there."
GAME ONE: MOUNT ST. JOSEPH 4, WILMINGTON 3
Wilmington stranded the tying run on third base as its seventh-inning rally fell short in losing to Mount St. Joseph in the first game of the doubleheader.
Senior Jess Clutter (Union, OH/Northmont) singled home two runs in the seventh, moved to second on the throw home and advanced to third on a throwing error. However, freshman pinch hitter Chandler Fields (Delaware, OH/Rutherford B. Hayes) struck out to end the game.
Both teams dented the plate in the third, MSJ on a throwing error, and sophomore Kerrie Trautman (Hartville, OH/Field) doubled home Wilmington's run.
The Lions took the lead with three runs in the top of the fifth inning to race out to the 4-1 lead.
Wilmington had a chance to trim the lead in the sixth following back-to-back walks to Trautman and Clutter to open the inning. A two-out single by freshman Emily Smith (Bellbrook, OH/Bellbrook) had the bases loaded. But, pinch hitter Sydney Kelly (Cincinnati, OH/Sycamore) struck out the end the threat.
Smith finished with 2-for-3 in the opener.
Freshman Beth Persicano (Knoxville, TN/Cincinnati Turpin) fell to 1-7, allowing four runs (three earned) on 10 hits.
GAME TWO: MOUNT ST. JOSEPH 5, WILMINGTON 2
Mount St. Joseph scored three runs in the fifth inning to give the Lions some breathing room as Wilmington fell 5-2 in the night cap.
After MSJ took the lead with a pair of runs in the first, Trautman halved the deficit with a RBI single that scored freshman Whitney Edwards (Frankfort, KY/Franklin County).
Kelly earned an RBI the hard way in the sixth inning by getting hit with bases loaded. However, Wilmington couldn't come up with the big hit – and the game was called after six innings due to darkness.
Edwards finished 2-for-5 with a double and run scored, while Smith doubled in three at bats.
Trautman took the loss (3-3), allowing five runs (four earned) on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings.
Wilmington (4-10) returns home 1 p.m. Saturday to open Ohio Athletic Conference play against Marietta.