WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Frostburg State softball team closed its 2012 schedule with two losses at Catholic on Sunday, 9-8 and 5-3. On a brighter note, sophomore first baseman Caitlin Lovend broke the school's single-season hits record. Her second hit of the day surpassed the previous record of 58, set in both 2009 and 2010 by Brooke Tapman. Lovend finished with 61 hits on the year.
Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
Game one featured plenty of scoring in the Cardinals' walk-off win. Catholic (22-14) jumped out to a 4-0 lead after two innings, but the Bobcats battled back. In the third, senior starting pitcher Lauren Scrivener led off with a double to right. She later scored on junior catcher Megan Butzner's RBI groundout.
Frostburg (23-18) scored two more in the top of the fourth. Junior shortstop Shari Beavers started the inning with a walk. Freshman Bailey Ellsworth followed with a single to center, and both advanced on two wild pitches. The second of those scored Beavers, and Ellsworth came home after a single by senior third baseman Beth Whitehead to make the score 4-3.
After Catholic added two runs in its half of the fourth to make it 6-3, the Bobcats pounced again, this time with four runs to take the lead. Lovend singled and freshman Amanda Hennessee doubled to lead off the inning, and they were followed by Beavers' ninth home run of the year to tie the score at 6-6. The rally started again with an Ellsworth single to center. After two outs and a walk, junior center fielder Taylor Vandegrift singled to center to score Ellsworth and give Frostburg its first lead of the afternoon, 7-6.
That lead would be short-lived, however, as Catholic scored two in the bottom of the fifth to retake the lead, 8-7, on a pair of bases-loaded walks.
The top of the sixth saw Frostburg have its lead-off hitter reach base and score for the fourth consecutive inning. This time, it was Lovend's single to start the rally and Hennessee's single to bring her around to again tie the score, this time at 8-8.
Catholic had the last at-bat, and in this case, the last laugh. With two on and two out, the Cardinals were able to score the winning run after a Bobcat fielding error.
Lovend was 3-for-4 in the game with two runs scored. She finished her sophomore season batting .496 with 13 home runs and 49 RBIs. The batting average and home run total are good for second all-time, as is her slugging percentage (.886), total bases (109), and extra base hits (22).
Beavers was 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored. She finished the year hitting .330 and was second on the team in home runs (9), RBIs (31), and slugging percentage (.635), among other categories.
The Bobcats again dug a 4-0 hole after two innings in the second game. Frostburg broke through in the top of the fifth inning to score two runs and cut the lead in half, 4-2, with the benefit of three Catholic errors in the frame. Sophomore Emily Tempestilli singled to lead off the inning and advanced to second on an error, and Whitehead followed that up by reaching on an error. They would both score on a Butzner groundout to short, aided in part by the third error of the inning.
Catholic got a run back in the bottom of the fifth to make it 5-2, and the Bobcats were only able to push one across in the top of the seventh on an RBI single by Lovend to score Whitehead to wrap up the scoring.
That last Lovend RBI sets the new school mark at 49, a school record previously set by Tapman in 2009 with 43.
Ellsworth finished with four hits on the day and Vandegrift had three. The freshman Ellsworth finished with a .337 batting average and led the team with nine stolen bases in nine attempts. Vandegrift hit .404 for the season with 59 hits. That places her second on the all-time list for a single season, two behind Lovend.
Jordan Wright suffered the loss, but she still finished her senior season with a 14-4 record and a 2.43 ERA.
