With the game tied at two in the bottom of the seventh, first year Amanda Butera stepped up to the plate with the winning run in Maddie Holub on first base. A double in the gap would have sufficed with Holub's speed, but instead, she took a rip and sent the ball over the right field fence allowing her and her classmate to jog around the bases and give the Cougars a 4-2 win over Scranton in game one of a doubleheader, Thursday afternoon at Anderson Field.
In the second game, Misericordia was shut down by the Royals ace, ultimately falling by a score of 4-1.
The Cougars now sit a 12-10 on the season as Scranton goes to 16-4.
Butera finished game one 2-4 with those two RBI and Kiersten Pflueger and Abby Marzzacco each added a run batted in of their own.
Brooke Moyle was stellar in the circle, going the distance while allowing just two runs and striking out four.
Pflueger drove in the game's first run on an infield single to the shortstop in the first inning to score Holub, who had been hit by a pitch.
Scranton tied it up in the third, but the Cougars retook the lead in the fourth when Marzzacco found a hole in the infield to knock in Brianna Holder, who had doubled to lead off the inning.
The Royals tied the game in the sixth once again and looked poised to take the lead in the seventh when the leadoff hitter reached base, but the next batter popped up a bunt to Moyle, who caught and threw to first for the double play. Moyle was not out of trouble yet, however, as the next batter laced a triple to center field, but the sophomore buckled down and got Molly Hampsey to ground out to end the inning and keep the score tied.
It looked like the game was headed for extra innings as the first two MU hitters grounded out in the bottom of the seventh, but a two-out walk to Holub set the stage for Butera and she delivered with her fifth home run of the year.
In game two, Scranton took a 3-0 lead before the Cougars came to bat and with Jennifer Sweeney, who had a 0.92 ERA entering the game, in the circle, the Royals were able to cruise to a 4-1 victory. Lori Brennan provided the only run for Misericordia on a home run to left field in the seventh inning.
The Cougars are back in action, Saturday, when they host DeSales in a MAC Freedom doubleheader beginning at 1:00.
