Hilltoppers Defeat Softball in Season Home Finale

FROSTBURG, Md. – The Frostburg State softball team dropped its final two home games of the year. West Liberty won in a first game comeback 8-5 and 10-1 in the second.
 
Freshman Izabella Donaldson got the start for the Bobcats, striking out the first batter she saw before hitting two straight batters. She would be helped out of the inning by senior Samara Funk making a nice double play, snagging a line drive and stepping on first to end the frame. FSU would get on the board in the bottom half, as junior Gracie Nelson led off with a single followed by a sac bunt form senior Hanna Binek, walk to Funk, and an RBI single form freshman Bri Russo. West Liberty would tie the game at 1-1 with a leadoff home run in the top of the second inning, while the Bobcats went down in order in their at-bats.

The Hilltoppers earned their first lead of the day in the third on a double and two-run homer. Frostburg would answer in the bottom half, with Nelson drawing a walk followed by a WLU error and junior Arden Miller being hit by a pitch. Nelson was thrown out at home on a fielder's choice, but with the bags still full Russo was able to walk in a run, then junior Olivia Stetler got an RBI groundout to plate Miller and tie things at 3-3. In the fourth, West Liberty lined back-to-back singles into center to lead off, with a sac bunt moving the runners up after a strikeout. Two straight walks loaded the bases and scored a run, but a grounder to Binek limited the damage. 

Again, the Bobcats were able to answer, with senior Cristina Sommerkamp and Nelson drawing walks either side of freshman Zoey Marinello singling into right. Miller stepped in and drove a two-RBI double into the gap in left-center for a 5-4 lead. Donaldson worked out of a lead-off single and a walk in the fifth with a fielder's choice, line out to Nelson, and grounder to Marinello. Frostburg threatened in the bottom half after Russo ripped a single through the left side and Stetler blasted a ball to straightaway center, but a Hilltopper pitching change worked just as intended, with the next three batters striking out to keep any insurance runs from scoring. In Donaldson's final inning of work in the sixth, she was able to maintain the one-run lead before being replaced in the seventh. WLU took full advantage, drawing three straight walks after a lead-off single and error, finishing off the inning with a two-RBI single to stun the home crowd with an 8-5 lead. Freshman Sage Haller tried to keep things alive with a two-out double the other way, while Sommerkamp followed on a knock to left, but a routine grounder ended the game with the rally falling short. 

In game two, the Bobcats would again strike first when Nelson walked to lead off, advancing on an error and fly out to right before scoring on a double steal with Binek drawing the throw. In the circle, Haller would pitch three hitless innings to start the game, with the only baserunners coming on three walks but never allowing a runner past second. Frostburg tried to add another run in the second in being handed a pair of Hilltopper errors, but two straight fielder's choices with the bases loaded kept them from scoring. West Liberty used a two-out rally in the fourth on back-to-back singles and a double to move ahead 3-1. Haller led off with a single in the bottom half but would be left stranded, as WLU used four singles, a double, and two walks to plate five runs in the fifth to move ahead 8-1. With FSU again going quietly on offense, in the sixth the Hilltoppers tacked on a couple more runs off another pair of knocks, a sac fly, and a Bobcat error. Frostburg went down in order in the bottom of the sixth, ending the game by mercy rule at 10-1. 

Russo led the offense across the games with three hits and a pair of RBI, while Nelson chipped in with two hits, four walks, and a pair of runs scored. 

With the losses, the Bobcats are now 11-33 on the season while West Liberty improves to 25-22. Frostburg has their final regular season road trip next Friday and Saturday against Charleston and West Virginia State. For more information visit frostburgsports.com.