Gettysburg vs. Rio Grande Box Score
Gettysburg vs. Penn State Altoona Box Score
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The Gettysburg softball team split a pair of non-conference games on Wednesday, falling to Rio Grande, 6-5, in a tie-breaking eight innings, while rallying back to defeat Penn State Altoona, 2-1. Freshman pitcher Beth McCullough (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) picked up her third straight win in the nightcap for the Bullets, striking out a career-high 11 batters.
After three scoreless innings, Rio Grande got on the board first with a run in the top of the fourth. Two more came across the plate for the Redwomen in the fifth before Gettysburg answered with two runs of their own, making it 3-2 in favor of the Redwomen. The Bullets scored again in the sixth, and an exchange of runs in the seventh forced an eighth inning tie-breaker. Sophomore Jessica Wallick (Chambersburg, Pa./Chambersburg) singled to drive in junior Heather Sagaities (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg) who was hit by a pitch in the bottom of the seventh.
With a runner on second base to start the eighth and a sacrifice bunt, Erin Ratliff singled to drive in the first of two runs for Rio Grande. Ratliff, herself, came around to score on a Bullet error.
Gettysburg senior captain Meg Gorsuch (Mount Airy, Md./South Carroll) singled to move Kara Kempski (Pittsford, N.Y./Pittsford Mendon) over from second to third. A Sagaities single brought Kempski in, but that's as close as the Bullets would get.
Wallick paced Gettysburg's offense, going 2-for-3 with two walks. Freshman catcher Sarah Woodbury (Audubon, Pa./Mt. St. Joseph Academy) went 0-for-1 with three walks in the loss.
In game two, McCullough allowed one run in the bottom of the first before keeping Penn State Altoona scoreless for the next six innings.
The Bullets got on the board in the fourth. Wallick led off with a single followed by Junior catcher Abbe Miller (Spring City, Pa./Owen J. Roberts) who bunted her to second, and freshman Ali Iacobucci (Phoenixville, Pa./Phoenixville) singled to score Wallick. In the top of the sixth, Miller led off with a double. Kempski then singled to score Miller for a 2-1 margin in favor of the Bullets.
Gettysburg will continue its spring break with a pair of games on Thursday against Utica and Iowa Wesleyan. The Utica game will begin at 9 a.m.
