On a cold and windy day by Florida standards, the Alma College Softball team took the field on Friday for two more games at the National Training Center in Clermont, FL. Led by a brilliant performance by Sr. LHP Breu Olling (Breckenridge/Breckenridge), the Scots defeated Houghton College 8-0 in six innings, before dropping a close 7-6 decision to Capital University to end the day.

With day left in Florida, Alma sits at 4-6 overall with two games remaining in its spring games schedule.

Game One

With two outs in the first, So. 3B Lea Lusk (Columbiaville/Lakeville) connected on a single to give the Scots their first baserunner of the day.  Jr. 1B Sarah Collier (Fenton/Fenton) followed with a double to center field to put Alma up 1-0 after the first half inning.

Houghton would record two pop ups and a strike out in its half on the first and the score remained 1-0 heading in to the second.

Alma would once again score with two outs in the second, as  So. SS Anna Couture (Posen/Posen) laid down a bunt, stole second and advanced on the throw, before scoring on a passed ball.  After 1.5 innings, the Scots held the 2-0 advantage.

Following a pop up, Olling would strike out the next two batters to keep it 2-0 entering the third inning.

Olah led off the third with a walk and would be pinch ran for by So. OF Kelsey Spencer (Eaton Rapids/Eaton Rapids). Spencer would steal second, before being brought home with a double by Jr. C Kayla Merice (Dorr/Wayland). Alma would later load the bases but would be unable to tally anymore runs to bring the score to 3-0 heading in to the home half of the inning.

Olling would blank Houghton once again, recording two more strikeouts to end the third with Alma up 3-0.

Couture was hit by a pitch to start the fourth, and would advance to second on a bunt by Sr. OF Brooke Hein (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Northview). Alma would then execute a double steal to put runners on second and third with one out. Merice would lay down a bunt to score Couture and advance Hein to third base. Hein would score on a wild pitch which would advance Merice to third. The Scots would line out and fly out to end the inning but not before extending their lead to 5-0.

The next 1.5 innings saw no scoring by either team, but that would change in the sixth as Alma looked to close the door on the Highlanders.

Hein led off the sixth with a single and then followed it up by stealing second. Olah would then walk, before Merice singled to load the bases. Another wild pitch would advance all runners and score Hein from third. Lusk then stepped to the plate and sent a single to left to clear the bases and put the Scots up 8-0 in the sixth.

Olling would cap off her impressive start with two strikeouts to end the game in six innings, to give Alma the 8-0 victory.

Merice went three-for-four from the plate with two RBI, while Lusk also recorded two RBI after going one-of-three.  Couture and Hein both collected two stolen bases, with Merice, Spencer and Jr. OF Kassidi Adams (Montrose/Montrose) each swiping one.

In the circle, Olling had a brilliant game, recording a no-hitter with 10 strikeouts to improve to 1-1 on the year.

Game two

In the second game of the day, Alma would face off with Capital University, a team the Scots were 1-1 against earlier in the week.

So. RHP Morgan Stratton (Grand Blanc/Grand Blanc) was on fire to start the game, striking out the first seven batters she faced. 

Heading in to the top of the third inning, the game was all knotted at 0-0.

The Crusaders would explode in top-half of the third, scoring four runs to open up the 4-0 lead.

Down 4-0, the Scots quickly responded with a walk by Zill and a single by Olah in the fourth. Merice would score Sr. OF Marie Zill (Chelsea/Chelsea) with a single and advance Olah to second to cut the deficit to 4-1. An error by Capital proved costly as the Scots added two more runs to close the inning and get within one at 4-3.

Stratton fanned three more batters in the top of the fourth to keep the deficit to just one run.

In the bottom of the fourth, Hein led off with a bunt and would advance to second on a single by Zill.  Olah followed with a single, before the Scots would capitalize on another Crusader error to score two and take the 6-4 lead.

The score remained 6-4 until Capital would put one on the board in the top of the sixth to bring the score to 6-5.

Alma would be unable to land any baserunners in the bottom of the sixth, to set up an exciting finish at the National Training Center.

The Crusaders would tack on two runs in the top of the seventh to retake the lead at 7-6 with one half inning remaining.

With one out, Couture would single to left field to give the Scots the tying run on base. Hein would sacrifice Couture over to second with a bunt, to put Alma in a one on, two out situation. The Scots would pop up to end the game to drop the heartbreaking 7-6 decision to the Crusaders.

Merice went two-for-four from the plate with a team-high three RBI. Olah led Alma with three hits, including a triple.

Stratton got the loss to fall to 2-1 on the year, after giving up seven runs (five earned) on nine hits while striking out 11.

The Scots conclude play in Florida tomorrow, taking on  Ohio Northern University (OH) at 1:00 p.m. followed by Muhlenberg College (PA) at 5:00 p.m.