FROSTBURG, Md. – The Frostburg State softball team closed its 2019 CAC regular-season slate on Monday with a pair of losses to rival Salisbury.
The Bobcats (16-18, 5-7 CAC) dropped the opener 6-4 in nine innings and lost the nightcap 11-7 in six innings as the game was called due to darkness.
First-year Amber Keene had quite an impressive day for Frostburg as she finished the opener 2-for-3 with two runs, a double, a home run and a walk, while she was walked all four times she stepped to the plate in the second game.
Game One
Keene started the scoring for both teams in the second inning as she crushed a pitch over the left-field fence for a solo home run and a 1-0 lead.
Salisbury (24-11, 8-4 CAC) plated two runs in the fifth for a 2-1 lead, but Frostburg answered in the sixth when junior Katelyn Mehrling reached on a fielding error by the SU infield that allowed Keene to score and tie things at 2-2.
SU tried to pull away in the seventh as Dakota Fraley and Amelia Trotter both smacked solo home runs for a 4-2 lead following the top of the seventh.
FSU tied the game once again in the home half of the seventh when sophomore Kat Treff hit her first career home run, an opposite field shot over the right-field fence that scored sophomore Taylor McCarty that evened things at four.
The Gulls claimed the win in the ninth when two runs scored on a Bobcat error.
Mehrling allowed all six runs, just four earned, in 9.0 innings of work with four strikeouts. She helped strand eight SU runners, while at the plate, Frostburg loaded the bases in the eighth with just one out but couldn't get a run across.
Game Two
Senior Olivia Ford singled home McCarty in the second and first-year Erica Payne singled home Keene in the third inning as Frostburg pulled to within 3-2.
Salisbury (24-11, 8-4 CAC) answered with eight runs in the fourth as it appeared to take control of the contest. Jillian Jones got things rolling when she doubled home two runs to open up a 5-2 edge. Fraley closed the outburst for the Gulls with a sacrifice fly for an 11-2 cushion.
The Bobcats narrowed the final to 11-7 with runs in the fourth and fifth frames. Sophomore Aliyah Ramey plated Treff with a ground out for the first run of the fourth before Ford scored the second run on an error by Salisbury.
Ford led off the fifth with a single to third that scored Treff. Junior Claire Hanlon, the next batter, doubled down the left field line that scored Ford and Ramey plated Hanlon with a single to right as the scoreboard read 11-7.
Neither team was able to score any runs in the sixth as the game was called due to darkness.
McCarty suffered the loss in the circle after giving up six earned runs on eight hits in 3.0 innings. Classmate Ally Weiman pitched the final 3.0 innings and allowed five earned runs on four hits.
Ford finished the second game 3-for-4 with two runs, two RBI and two stolen bases. She raised her league-leading stolen-base total to 28 on the season, a mark that also ranks inside the top 15 in NCAA DIII.
Frostburg closes its regular season on Wednesday when it hosts Catholic at 3:00 pm.
With Salisbury sweeping Frostburg, the CAC Tournament matchups are now set. Top-seeded
Mary Washington and No. 2 Christopher Newport will host a pair of three-team pods in Fredericksburg and Newport News on Apr. 26-27.
The Bobcats have earned the fifth seed in the CAC Tournament and will travel to Newport News, Va. as CNU will host No. 3 Salisbury and Frostburg at Captains Park. The Captains will take on the Bobcats in the first game of the double-elimination pod at noon on Friday.
In Fredericksburg, Va., top-seeded Mary Washington will host No. 4 York (Pa.) and No. 6 Southern Virginia. The Eagles will meet No. 6 Southern Virginia in the opening game at noon on Friday.
A full preview will be available later this week.
