Jessie McDonough hit a walk-off single for the Misericordia softball team in the second game of a doubleheader to win 4-3 and salvage a split with the Colonels, Saturday afternoon. Wilkes won the first game, 3-2, in nine innings.
Misericordia is now 6-8 overall with a 1-1 conference record as Wilkes goes to 9-5 with a 1-1 record in the MAC Freedom.
The Cougars were the home team after poor field conditions forced the games to be moved from Dallas to Wilkes-Barre.
Brooke Moyle went the distance in the win, striking out six while allowing just three runs. She also went 3-3 at the plate with an RBI. McDonough contributed with two hits, including the game-winning RBI single.
Wilkes scored runs in the first and fifth inning to take a 2-0 lead.The Cougars started their comeback in the bottom of the fifth when Ciara DeLong led off the inning with a walk and Maddie Holub reached on a fielder's choice. After stealing second, Holub scored on a single to center field by Jessica Pluta to cut the MU deficit to 2-1.
The Cougars took the lead in the sixth inning, scoring two runs to go ahead 3-2. Lori Brennan led off the inning with a walk and McDonough followed with a single through the left side of the infield to put runners on first and second for Moyle. The sophomore came through with a clutch RBI single to center, scoring Raegan Mahoney who had pinch ran for Brennan. After a sacrifice bunt by Kayla Stephani, DeLong hit a sacrifice fly to right to give Misericordia a 3-2 lead.
In the top of the seventh, the Colonels were down to their final out with a runner on first when Britny Jumalon laced a double to the left-center field gap to tie the game at three.
The Cougars used a two-out rally to walk it off in the bottom of the seventh. Singles by Kiersten Pflueger and Lori Brennan set the stage for McDonough and the sophomore came in clutch as she hit a single back up the middle to allow Pflueger to race around third and score the winning run.
In the first game, the Cougars only managed three hits off Gracen Staunton, but two of them went over the fence to provide the scoring.
Amanda Butera gave the Cougars an early 1-0 lead in the first when she launched one over the left field fence. Ciara DeLong hit a nearly identical home run as Butera's to extend the Misericordia lead to 2-0 in the third inning. It was the third home run of the season for each of them to extend their team lead.
Victoria Schmidt only allowed three hits through four scoreless innings, but Wilkes cut into the deficit in the fifth, scoring an unearned run to trim the Cougar lead to 2-1. The Colonels tied the game in the sixth on an RBI double from Sydney Cogswell.
The game remained tied until the ninth when Sarah Gibson led off the inning with a home run over the left field fence to put the Colonels in front.
Staunton polished off the Cougars in the ninth as she finished the game with six straight hitless innings.
Misericordia is back in action, Thursday when they travel to King's to play a doubleheader at 2:00.
