WARREN, Mich. – It was a beautiful April day for softball and a beautiful day to win two as Macomb Softball swept the visiting Skippers of St. Clair County Community College Thursday (April 13) in Warren. The Monarchs won game one in run-rule fashion, 8-0, before earning a comeback walk-off win by a 7-6 final in eight innings in the nightcap. The pair of wins lifted the Monarchs record to 11-12 overall and 5-6 in MCCAA Eastern Conference play.
The Skippers fell to 3-19 overall and 0-12 in the conference.
GAME ONE: Macomb 8, SC4 0 (5 inn.)
Freshman right-handed pitcher
Allison Vogt (Chesterfield, Mich./Anchor Bay) tossed a two-hit shutout and struck out six Skippers to help lift the Monarchs to an 8-0 run-rule win in the opener. After holding the Skippers to five shutout innings in the opener, combined with another great outing in the nightcap, Vogt has now held the opposition scoreless over the past 14 innings. The game one win was Vogt's sixth of the season.
The Monarchs did all their damage offensively in the third inning, plating all eight runs in the frame after
Danielle Erickson (Sterling Heights, Mich./Sterling Heights) started the scoring with an RBI double down the right field line.
Katelyn Thomas (Macomb, Mich./Dakota) drove in the second run of the inning on an RBI single to left field and
Elizabeth Townsend (New Baltimore, Mich./Anchor Bay) followed with an RBI single to left of her own to make it 3-0.
Samantha Scott (Romeo, Mich./Eisenhower) singled to center to bring the score to 4-0 before
Brynn Beyer (Macomb, Mich./L'Anse Creuse North) stepped to the plate and turned a 4-0 game into an 8-0 contest with one swing of the bat.
Beyer connected on a no-doubter that sailed over the left field wall for her first grand slam at the collegiate level. The four-run blast was Beyer's team-leading fifth home run of the season and gave the Monarchs all the offense they needed in the 8-0 triumph.
Erickson and Scott paced an 11-hit attack with two hits each. Both of Erickson's hits in the opener were doubles.
GAME TWO: Macomb 7, SC4 6 (8 inn.)
Run-rule game one…walk-off game two! The Monarchs swept the day behind nearly polar opposite ways to win after coming back not once, but twice in the 7-6 walk-off victory in extra innings. The Monarchs trailed 4-1 after three innings of play and made their first of two comebacks by chipping away with run scored in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to tie the game, 4-4, heading into the seventh inning.
After momentum shifted to the Monarchs, the Skippers grabbed it back immediately with two runs in the top half of the seventh to take a 6-4 lead with three outs remaining.
The Monarchs completed comeback No. 2 in the game by plating two runs in the home half of the seventh, the first coming on a
Samantha Scott RBI double to right center and the second on a
Brynn Beyer drive that went through two Skippers to bring Scott around to score. The play tied the game, 6-6, and sent the game to extra innings.
After the Monarchs shut down the Skippers in the top of the eighth,
Haley Mitchell (Memphis, Mich./Memphis) led off the bottom of the inning with a hard-hit double over the center fielder's head. The timely leadoff double was undoubtedly the best hit of Mitchell's young collegiate career. After Mitchell advanced to third on a wild pitch,
Savanna Clark (St. Clair, Mich./St. Clair) ended the game with a walk-off hit to shortstop that brought Mitchell in to score for the 7-6 final.
Clark led the Monarchs with a three-hit nightcap (3-for-4), while Mitchell, Scott and
Carleigh Bilpo (Sterling Heights, Mich./Henry Ford II) recorded two hits each. Bilpo, Mitchell and Scott all hit a double in Thursday's latter contest.
In the circle, it was
Allison Vogt who came on to shut the door for the final 1.2 innings to earn her seventh win of the campaign and her second decision of the day. Vogt faced six Skippers and struck out two while only allowing one hit to move to 7-3 on the season and 3-0 in her last three appearances.
Katelynn Fraser (Macomb, Mich./Eisenhower) got the start and pitched a solid game, striking out eight Skippers while only allowing two earned runs.
Carly Sierzenga (Macomb, Mich./Dakota) struck out four and only allowed one earned run after relieving Fraser in the sixth inning.
UP NEXT: The homestand continues…
The Monarchs will host a red-hot Mott Community College team tomorrow (April 14) for a MCCAA East doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m. Macomb Athletics will provide live stream and live stats coverage for both games Friday afternoon.
