The Misericordia softball team split a doubleheader with MAC Freedom preseason favorite Manhattanville, Saturday afternoon at Anderson Field in Dallas. After falling in the first game, 6-1, the Cougars took game two, 10-5.
The Cougars stay at .500 for the year at 14-14 and go to 6-4 in the MAC Freedom as the Valiants go to 17-13 and 8-4 in conference play.
In game two, Brianna Holder went 4-4 with four RBI and two runs scored and Kiersten Pflueger had three hits with three runs batted in. Amanda Butera also contributed three hits, an RBI and crossed the plate four times.
Victoria Schmidt allowed just three runs in 4.1 innings to improve to 5-1 on the season.
The Cougars jumped out to a 3-0 lead after one inning as the first four batters reached safely. Ciara DeLong reached on an error followed by a single from Butera. Holder knocked in DeLong with a double down the left field line and Pflueger followed with an RBI bloop single to shallow right field. The throw in from right field got away from the catcher, allowing Holder to score as well.
Holder knocked in three more runs in the second inning as she hit a bases-clearing triple to dead center to double the Cougar lead to 6-0. She came around to score as well on an RBI single to left field by Pflueger.
The Valiants scored twice in top of the third, but Misericordia responded by scoring two of their own in the bottom half of the inning. Maddie Holub singled to lead off the inning and came around to score on a double to the right-center field gap from Butera. Pflueger then followed with her third RBI single of the game to drive in Butera to put MU up 9-2 after three innings.
After a scoreless fourth inning, Manhattanville scored a run in the fifth, but again the Cougars answered back as Kayla Stephani hit an RBI pinch-hit infield single to the shortstop to knock in Butera, who had singled to lead off the inning.
The Valiants made it interesting in the seventh as Dolores Diemicke hit a two-run home run and then proceeded to load the bases. However, Jordan Hoffman kept the game-tying run in the on-deck circle as she got a groundout to DeLong at third base to secure the win.
In game one, the Cougars could not get the offense going, as they managed to only record three hits. Holder provided the run for MU on a home run to left-center in the fourth inning to make the game 4-1 at the time. Manhattanville added two insurance runs in the seventh to secure the victory.
The Cougars are back in action, tomorrow, as the host Delaware Valley at noon.
