KISSIMMEE, FLA. – The Siena Heights softball team started 2022 with wins over St. Thomas (5-3) and Bethel (Ind.) (7-2). The Saints (2-0) hit .351 as a team through the first day of the Spring Break games in Florida.
Game One: Siena Heights def. St. Thomas, 5-3
Courtnee Chappetta made the most of her collegiate debut when she belted a three-run home run in the 1st-inning. Sam Hill was two for four while Julia Hogston recorded two hits on three at-bats. Maddie Herrera, Kelsey Uhl, Lily Guerra, Sam Spicer, and Chappetta each registered a hit. Uhl (W, 1-0) earned the win in the circle with seven innings of work that allowed eight hits, one earned run, and two strikeouts.
Hill singled off a bunt to start the top of the 1st-inning with a baserunner. Herrera brought Hill home with a one-out RBI double. Uhl reached base on a walk before Spicer singled to score Herrera and move Uhl to third. Chappetta then cleared the base paths with her two-out homer that put SHU on top 4-0.
The score remained still for the following three innings before the Bobcats got on the scoreboard with an RBI-single in the bottom of the 4th-inning. An error by Siena Heights allowed a second run to cross the plate in the 5th-inning to cut the lead in half, 4-2. A home run in the 6th-inning brought STU within two runs of tying the score, but the Saints held on to secure the win.
Game Two: Siena Heights def. Bethel (Ind.), 7-2
Hill led the game against the Pilots with a perfect four-for-four effort at the plate. Abby Fisher (2 for 2), Chappetta (2 for 3), and Alyssa Marshall (2 for 2) all tallied two hits in the game. Marshall brought three runners home to lead in that category. Jordan Green (W, 1-0) was dominant in the circle with a career-high 15 strikeouts in seven innings pitched. Green surrendered three hits, two earned runs, and a home run.
Hill got the Saints rolling again with a bunt single to begin the offensive effort on base. Hogston followed suit but beat out the defense with a bunt single that moved Hill to third base after a throwing error by the Pilots. A wild pitch brought Hill home and moved Hogston to third base. Next, Chappetta chipped an RBI single that scored Hogston. Marshall doubled to score Chappetta and Uhl to give the Saints a 4-0 lead.
Marshall hit an RBI single in the 3rd-inning to increase the lead to 5-0. Fisher hit an RBI-double that allowed Hogston to cross Homeplate in the 4th-inning as the lead moved to 6-0.
Bethel (Ind.) scored off a two-run home run in the 5th-inning, but Fisher moved the needle back to a five-run lead with an RBI single in the bottom of the 6th-inning, and Green sealed the win with three strikeouts in the seventh to take the win.
UP NEXT
The SHU softball team faces Saint Xavier (9:00 AM) and Carlow (11:15 AM) tomorrow for the second day of the Spring Break games in Florida.
