WARREN, Mich. – Macomb Softball powered its way to a split with Mott Community College behind 13 extra-base hits—a triple, three home runs and nine doubles—to shift to 12-13 overall and 6-7 in the MCCAA Eastern Conference. The Monarchs took game one, 5-1, behind balanced offense and stellar pitching. Game two went in favor of the visiting Bears by a 12-11 final in a wild back-and-forth contest.

GAME ONE: Macomb 5, Mott 1
Allison Vogt (Chesterfield, Mich./Anchor Bay) was in the circle in game one and went on to earn her eighth win of the season after tossing seven innings seven-hit ball while only surrendering one run. The freshman right-handed pitcher finished with eight strikeouts, one shy of her career-high set last week against Schoolcraft. Offensively, the Monarchs were balanced in the opener with Danielle Erickson (Sterling Heights, Mich./Sterling Heights) leading the way with three hits, including a key RBI double.

Rylee Thomas (Harrison Twp., Mich./L'Anse Creuse) drove in a team-best two runs as part of a 2-for-3 effort, while Natalie Lerchenfeld (Macomb, Mich./Dakota) went 2-for-2 with an RBI. Carleigh Bilpo (Sterling Heights, Mich./Henry Ford II) and Katelyn Thomas (Macomb, Mich./Dakota) hit a double each with Bilpo also driving a run home for the Monarchs in the opener.

GAME TWO: Mott 12, Macomb 11
A back-and-forth contest ramped up in the sixth inning as Mott erased a 6-5 deficit with a six-run frame to take an 11-6 lead. The Monarchs answered with five runs in the home half of the sixth to tie the game, 11-11, but the Bears answered with a run in the top of the seventh to earn the split.

Elizabeth Townsend (New Baltimore, Mich./Anchor Bay) connected on a pair of two-run home runs in the nightcap to lift her career tally to 21 home runs (a program record). Katelyn Thomas followed a Danielle Erickson triple in the bottom of the first with a two-run home run of her own, her first at the collegiate level. While Townsend and Thomas led the long ball department, the Monarchs hit six doubles in game two, led by two each off the bats of Brynn Beyer (Macomb, Mich./L'Anse Creuse North) and Carleigh Bilpo. Erickson and Carly Sierzenga (Macomb, Mich./Dakota) recorded one double each to round out the game two extra-base hit leaders.

Beyer went a perfect 4-for-4 in the nightcap, while Bilpo and Erickson followed with three hits each. Townsend and Savanna Clark (St. Clair, Mich./St. Clair) finished with two hits each with the former driving in a team-high four runs off of two home runs. Bilpo and K. Thomas drove in two each.

UP NEXT: The homestand comes to an end
The weeklong homestand wraps up tomorrow (April 15) with a conference doubleheader against Henry Ford at 1 p.m.