The GCSU Bobcats softball team split a two-game doubleheader against Saginaw Valley State University on Friday, Feb. 21, with both games being decided by a single run.
This doubleheader was the season opener for the Cardinals of University Center, Michigan, as they began their season with a trip around the south, starting with Georgia before traveling to Florida.
Senior pitcher Shelby Jones got the start for game one of the doubleheaders. Entering the afternoon, Jones sported a 3.46 ERA in 28.5 innings of work.
Jones was backed up by her defense to open the afternoon contest on an awkward double-play, with one out coming from a fielder’s choice and the other coming on the basepaths when a runner tried to advance from second to third. Jones finished the inning with a punch out for the first of her night.
The following two half-innings flowed quickly as the Bobcats went 1-2-3 to begin their day, as Jones threw an answering three-up, three-down inning in the top of the second.
The bottom of the second was where the scoring began, as junior first base Stephanie Condland got a hold of a pitch and sent it over the wall for a 1-0 Bobcat lead, giving Jones a bit of insurance.
“I’m super proud of myself,” Condland said. “I’ve been working extra hard day in and day out, and it’s all thanks to my coaches and my teammates’ support.”
Jones stepped back to the circle for the seventh to finish what she began, and while the Cardinals sent the tying run to second, Jones struck out the next two to end the game and secure the complete game, her third of the year.
“I think I did pretty good, but still got some things to work on,” Jones said.
Jones’s final line score was seven innings pitched, giving up five hits, one run and two walks while striking out eight. She also threw 106 pitches.
Condland, along with senior utility player Divina Checo and sophomore outfielder Emily Hutcheson had the three hits for GCSU in the first game of the doubleheader.
Sophomore pitcher Tiffany Caban received the call for the second game of the doubleheader for the Bobcats, sporting a solid 2.88 ERA entering the day, which also led the Bobcats before the doubleheader.
Caban worked through some early trouble, as the Cardinals doubled to open up the ballgame. However, the following three struck out, a pair swinging and one looking, as Caban escaped trouble.
The Bobcats scored even earlier in this game, as a hit-by-pitch to Checo was followed by a pair of singles from sophomore catcher/infielder Karlie Gutierrez and senior outfielder Caroline Pollock to put the first run of the nightcap on the board. Finally, Condland quickly increased the Bobcats’ score to two, as she singled up the middle to score Pollock.
Both pitchers worked relatively quick second innings. However, a lead-off walk for SVSU in the third inning put the tying run up to the plate.
Caban managed a pair of outs following the walk and would come within one strike from escaping the inning unscathed, but the Cardinals sent the next pitch over the wall to even things up at two.
Neither pitcher let up for the next few innings, and even when it seemed either offense was putting something together, the pitcher shut things down.
However, things changed in the bottom of the sixth inning, where a lead-off single by Condland was quickly turned into a run from a triple by Hutcheson, which was followed by a hit-by-pitch and fielder’s choice to load the bases.
Then, senior infielder Kam Caldwell plated a pair on a single to the right side, and Checo scored another off of a single to center. GCSU ended the inning with a four-run lead: 6-2.
Nonetheless, the Cardinals’ offense came into play in the next half-inning, and they made it close off of a couple of GCSU mistakes, including a wild pitch that put SVSU within one run from tying it. A single from a Cardinals batter completed the comeback and evened things back up at six.
With there being extra innings, in the rules, a ghost-runner, the person who ended the last inning with an out, will be placed upon second base to begin each inning.
The Cardinals plated their ghost-runner to give them the lead, their first of the entire day. Sophomore pitcher Annalise Knop escaped further damage from the bullpen, and the Bobcats entered the bottom of the inning in desperate need of scoring their ghost-runner.
The Bobcats, however, would have two quick outs on the scoreboard, and with runners on first and second, the last hopes were down to Pollock. However, the defense handled her left-handed shift perfectly, and the Cardinals scooped out the victory.
“I’m super proud of the girls,” Condland said. “I’m super proud of how we came out of the gate, swinging, ready to go.”
The GCSU softball team plays a doubleheader against the Erskine College Flying Fleet on the road on Wednesday, Feb. 26.