YORK, Pa. – Frostburg State softball took game one, 5-3, in a Capital Athletic Conference doubleheader with York (Pa.), Thursday, before the Spartans rallied to salvage a split after winning game two, 6-5 in eight innings.
 
The Bobcats (12-7, 3-3 CAC) pounded out 11 hits in the first game and never trailed on their way to the win. Sophomore Emily Zengel led Frostburg in hitting with a 3-for-4 effort with two runs and an RBI.
 
Zengel got things going in the second inning with an RBI single that plated junior Allison Williams. Freshman Sam Gatton scored on the play thanks to an error by the York shortstop for a 2-0 lead. Zengel later scored when sophomore Hannah Tavik reach base on yet another error by the shortstop.
 
The Spartans (15-9, 4-4 CAC) narrowed their deficit to 3-2 with a two-run single from Vanessa Mendez in the bottom of the second and neither team was able to score any more runs until the top of the sixth.
 
In the top of the sixth, junior Renay Aubel singled through the left side that allowed Zengel to score, while junior Lauren Capece followed with a single through the left side that plated sophomore Hannah Tavik for a 5-2 lead.
 
York mustered a single run in the bottom of the sixth behind a Frostburg error, but the Bobcats hung on for the victory.
 
Tavik earned the win after tossing all 7.0 innings, while striking out five and allowing just two earned runs. At the plate, she finished 2-for-3 with a run and a walk. Capece was the third Frostburg hitter to register two or more hits after going 2-for-3 with an RBI.
 
The two teams combined to leave 19 runners on base, while York had three errors that helped the Bobcats to four of their five runs.
 
In the nightcap, York (Pa.) broke a 5-5 tie in the bottom of the eighth inning when Jayci Cristaudo singled home Maidson Fitzgerald for the game-winning run.
 
Frostburg again grabbed the early lead when sophomore Emily Harvey singled home Williams in the second for a quick 1-0 edge.
 
The Spartans rebounded with two runs in the second and a solo run in the third for a 3-1 advantage.
 
Frostburg had its answer in the fifth when Tavik singled home freshman Hannah Stringer and Aubel mashed a three-run homer to left center that scored Tavik and freshman Sam Gatton for a 5-3 lead.
 
York again rebounded with two runs in the fifth to knot the game at five apiece until the eighth.
 
Aubel finished 2-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored, while both Harvey and Tavik finished 1-for-4 with an RBI. Freshman Allison Short took the loss after surrendering six runs, four earned in 7.1 innings.

Frostburg returns to action on Saturday when it travels to Penn State Harrisburg at 1:00 pm.