DONALDSON, INDIANA – The Ancilla College softball team dropped two tight affairs to NJCAA #17 Muskegon Community College by the scores of 6-5 and 9-8.
Ancilla held leads in both games against the Michigan Community College Athletic Association (MCCAA) Western Conference second place team.
A four run second in game one capped off by a Brittany Probasco two RBI double gave the Chargers a 5-1 lead, but it would be the only runs they would score the entire game. Muskegon put up two runs in the third and one in the fourth before taking the lead for good in the top of the seventh with a two run inning. Probasco finished the game 3-4 with 2 RBI, while Kayte Miller and Tori Newsome added two hits each.
Game two was a back-and-forth affair. The Chargers jumped out to a 3-0 lead. with two runs in the first on RBI from Kayte Miller and Abbey Renner and one more run in the second, but the visiting Jayhawks put up three in the third to tie the game at 3-3. Ancilla answered with a run in the bottom of the third with an RBI from Madyson Price, but once again Muskegon answered. This time with one in the fourth and two in the fifth to take a 6-4 lead. Ancilla tightened the lead in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI single from Morgan Peoni, making it 6-5. A big three run seventh inning from Muskegon made it 9-5 but the Chargers fought back in their half of the inning with a three run home run off the bat of Renner, it just wasn’t enough as Ancilla fell one run short. Kayte Miller and Renner were both 3-4 for the Chargers. Renner finished with four RBI. Newsome also added two hits.
“You can’t get much closer,” mentioned Ancilla coach Scott Reese at the end of the day. “Both teams fought hard and played well. We hit well and played good defense, we were just a little short today.”
Ancilla (13-15, 6-9 MCCAA) travels to Muskegon (28-10, 15-3 MCCAA) today for a 3:00 p.m. start. They remain on the road tomorrow to take on Lansing Community College (19-15, 15-6 MCCAA) in a triple header. They return home onTuesday, April 21 to take on conference leader Kellogg Community College (25-8, 18-2 MCCAA) at 3:00 p.m.
