CHARLESTON, Ill. – The Belmont softball team (12-19, 2-9 OVC) saw a pair of comeback rallies fall just short on Saturday afternoon at Eastern Illinois (23-10, 11-1 OVC) in a pair of contests. The Bruins were held off 8-4 in game one before being edged in the nightcap, 4-2.
Sophomore Amanda Criscione (Upland, Calif.) got things started in the top of the first inning with a double to shallow left field before classmate Kat Hollingsworth (Carrollton, Texas) crushed a homerun over the right fence to put Belmont on top early, 2-0. EIU fired back in the bottom of the same inning, sending one over the plate with two outs.
EIU rallied in the bottom of the third inning with a wind assisted grand slam by Bailey O'Dell to put the Panthers ahead, 5-2. Eastern Illinois maintained its rally through the next inning, adding three runs to pull away, 8-2.
After being held off the board for five innings, the Bruins rallied in the top of the seventh. Junior Mia Vierra (Palmdale, Calif.) and sophomore Kirbie Ferrell (Pasadena, Texas) smashed singles to opposite sides of the field before a grounder by Criscione moved them into scoring position. A ground out by junior Ashley Hammer (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) scored Vierra before a single through the left side by Hollingsworth added Belmont's fourth run of the contest as Ferrell crossed the plate on a single to right field. Unfortunately, that would be as close as BU would come as the Panthers buckled down defensively to hold on for the 8-4 win.
Game two opened with both teams unable to get a run over the plate due to strong defensive efforts through the first two innings of action. EIU broke through the stalemate first, rallying in the bottom of the third inning with one out on the board, squeezing a trio of runners over the plate in consecutive at-bats to take a 3-0 lead.
The Bruins made up ground in the top of the fourth, scoring a pair of runs to trim the Panthers' lead to one run, 3-2, after Ferrell reached first on a single to center field and advanced to second on an EIU fielding error. Hammer and Hollingsworth knocked back-to-back singles before sophomore Heather Turner (Rosenburg, Texas) smacked one of her own up the right field line to send Ferrell home. Hammer followed with a hard hit to third base opening the door for Hollingsworth's hit to right field to send Hammer over the plate for Belmont's second run of the nightcap.
EIU added one more run in the bottom of the fifth to extend its lead to 4-2. BU attempted another rally in the top of the seventh, going on the load the bases after hits by Turner and senior Courtney Elrod (Clarksville, Tenn.) while senior Becca Gift (Durham, N.C.) reached after being hit by a pitch. Unfortunately, the Bruins had two outs by that point and saw its late rally held off, ensuring the 4-2 EIU victory.
For the day, Hollingsworth went 4-for-7, batting .571 with a homerun and four RBI. Vierra batted .400, going 2-for-5 at the plate.
Inside the circle, Vierra tossed six innings and collected three strikeouts to lead the BU pitching corps.
Belmont returns to action on Sunday at SIUE. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. Live stats will be available and the games can be seen live on the OVC Digital Network. A live Twitter feed (@BelmontSoftball) will also be available.
