Following a day off yesterday, the Alma College Softball team returned to the National Training Center in Clermont, FL for two early games on Thursday. The Scots lost to Capital University (OH) 5-4 in a back-and-forth battle, before dropping a tough 7-2 decision to No. 20 Augustana College (IL) to end the afternoon.

At the conclusion of Thursday's contests, Alma now sits at 3-5 on the year.

Game One

In the first inning, the Scots tried for some two-out magic starting with a walk by So. 3B Lea Lusk (Columbiaville/Lakeville). Lusk stole second, before taking third off a wild pitch. Jr. 1B Sarah Collier (Fenton/Fenton) followed with a walk and was pinch ran for by . So. OF Celeste Boyer (South Lyon/South Lyon East). Boyer stole second on the next play to give Alma two runners on with two outs. The inning would end on a strikeout to leave two runners on base in the top of the first.

Following a lead off single,  the Crusaders would capitalize on two errors to take the 1-0 lead with one out. Errors would prove costly for the Scots yet again, allowing Capital to score one more in the inning to make the score 2-0 heading in to the second.

Neither team would be able to mount any offense in the second and the score remained 2-0.

Sr. SS Devan Olah (White Lake/Lakeland) led off the third with a double to center field and would advance on a sacrifice by So. SS Anna Couture (Posen/Posen), to give the Scots a runner in scoring position with just one out.  Fr. CF Erin Lee (Commerce/Walled Lake Northern) would pinch run for Lusk who reached on a walk, stealing second and advancing to third on an error by the catcher that would score Olah from third. Collier would drop a bunt to score Lee from third on the fielders choice. After the top-half on the inning, the score was all knotted at 2-2.

The Crusaders would not land any runners in the bottom of the third to set up Alma for another big inning.

So. C Katherine Hybl (Central Lake/Charlevoix) led off the fourth with a double and advanced to third on a groundout by Sr. OF Brooke Hein (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Northview). Olah would follow with a walk, to give the Scots two runners on with only one out. Lusk would connect on a double to score Couture who reached on a single and Jr. SS Kassidi Adams (Montrose/Montrose) who came in to run for Olah. Heading in to the bottom of the fourth, Alma held a 4-2 lead.

The next two half innings did not see any scoring, but Capital quickly changed that in the bottom of the fifth. Thanks to some clutch hitting, the Crusaders managed to retake the lead at 5-4 in the bottom of the fifth.

Down 5-4 in the seventh, Sr. C Cori Witham (North Muskegon/North Muskegon) knocked in a double to keep Alma alive with two outs. The next batter would groundout to give Capital the 5-4 victory in this incredibly intense affair.

Lusk led the Scots with two RBI and two walks, while Hybl record a team-high two hits in the loss.

In the circle, So. RHP Morgan Stratton (Grand Blanc/Grand Blanc) falls to 2-1 on the year after five runs (three earned) on seven hits while striking out six.

Game Two

In the second game of the day, Alma would face off against No. 20 Augustana College (IL).  The Vikings showed why they are one of the premiere programs in the country early, racking up five runs in the first inning.

Augustana added to the lead in the third, putting up two more runs to stretch the lead to 7-0 with four innings remaining.

Alma finally got on the board in the bottom of fifth, when Olah connected on a double to score Boyer from third and Lee from second. After five, the Scots trailed 7-2.

With the score still 7-2 in the seventh, Alma tried one last time to take the lead. Boyer singled and was followed by Olah who also singled, to give the Scots two runners on with two outs. A pop out would end the game, with Alma falling 7-2 to end Thursday.

Olah continued her steady play, going two-for-four from the plate and accounting for both of the Scots RBI. Lusk also collected two hits, while Boyer went 1-1.

Fr. RHP Katie McClure (Manchester/Manchester) dropped her second-straight decision on the mound, giving up seven runs on six hits in 2.1 innings pitched to fall to 1-2 this season.

Alma has two more games tomorrow, taking on Houghton College (NY) at 9:00 a.m. before facing off with Capital University again at 11:00 a.m.