YORK, Pa. – The Frostburg State softball team split a conference doubleheader against York (Pa.) on the road on Friday morning, losing game one 5-2, and winning game two 4-1 in eight innings.
 
FSU remains at .500 in overall record (16-16) and in Capital Athletic Conference play (5-5), while the Spartans improve to 23-15, 7-5 against conference opponents.
 
Sophomore Taylor McCarty led the Bobcats to an extra-inning victory over York for the second-straight season. Last year, she belted a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to top the Spartans 2-1. Today, she smacked a bases-clearing two-out double in the top of the eighth inning to drive in the game's deciding runs.
 
Sophomore Emily Moll earned the victory in game two with a complete-game performance in the circle, surrendering just one run and three hits in 8.0 innings of work.
 
Game One
 
York scored runs in each of the first four innings, jumping out to a 5-0 lead. Taylor Lindsay drove in two runs on a single in the home half of the third inning for the Spartans.
 
McCarty started in the circle for the Bobcats, tossing four innings and allowing five runs on seven hits. Her classmate Ally Wieman came in for relief in the final two innings, holding the Spartans hitless and striking out three.
 
The Bobcats' offense got on the board in the top of the seventh inning, after junior Gabby Sandy worked a leadoff walk and later scored on a Spartan error. First-year Amber Keene drove home another run on an opposite-field double to score sophomore Aliyah Ramey later in the inning. The Bobcat comeback fell short, as Spartan starter Ginger Lewis forced a groundout to end the game.
 
Lewis earned her 12^th win of the season, pitching a complete game and allowing two runs, both unearned, while striking out nine FSU batters.
 
Senior Olivia Ford and junior Katelyn Mehrling each had two hits for the Bobcats, while Ford stole her 26^th base of the season, currently the top mark in the CAC.
 
Game Two
 
The Bobcats threatened early in game two, using a hit and an error to put runners on the corners in the top of the first inning, however Lewis was able to escape without surrendering a run.
 
Frostburg State quickly seized the lead in the top of the second with McCarty blasting her second home run of the season to center field, handing the Bobcats a 1-0 advantage. FSU placed runners on second and third with two outs, but were thwarted in their attempt to add to their one-run edge.
 
Moll worked efficiently in the circle, retiring nine-consecutive batters early in the contest, including back-to-back innings without a baserunner in the second and third innings.
 
In the top of the fourth, the Bobcats used two walks and several stolen bases to place runners at second and third with two outs before a pop out ending the chance.
 
York managed a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at one. The Spartans had runners at first and third after tying the game, but Moll coaxed a ground out limit the damage to just one run.
 
Pitchers controlled the fifth, sixth and seventh innings as both teams managed just a single baserunner through those three innings. Moll and Lewis each retired the side in order in the seventh to force extra innings.
 
In the eighth, Ramey smacked a one-out single up the middle, and advanced to second on a poor throw on a ball put into play by Keene. After a two-out walk by first-year Erica Payne, McCarty stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs. Facing an 0-2 count, McCarty laced a double into right-center field, scoring Ramey, Keene and Payne and handing the Bobcats a 4-1 advantage.
 
In the bottom of the eighth, Moll needed just eight pitches to retire three Spartans to secure the win.
 
Moll collected her fifth win of a season in a complete game effort. In 8.0 innings, she tallied three strikeouts while only surrendering three hits, one walk and one earned run.
 
McCarty drove in all four of FSU's runs with her second-inning home run and eighth-inning double. Junior Claire Hanlon joined McCarty with two hits, while Payne and junior Sam Carver each walked twice.
 
The Bobcats conclude CAC play on Monday when they host in-state rival Salisbury for a doubleheader. Game one is scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m.