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Box Score 3 Burnaby, BC - The Simon Fraser University softball team concluded their home schedule on Sunday against the Montana State University Billings Yellowjackets, finishing Saturday's suspended contest before playing the regularly scheduled double header.
The Clan lost the conclusion of the suspended game 14-7, game two 10-8 and game three 11-6.
"One of the things we wanted to improve on throughout the year was our offensive punch so to be able to put some runs on the board and do it in more than one inning was positive," said Head Coach
Mike Renney. "The flip side was our defence which started coming together in the last few weeks tailed off substantially and it put a heavy load on our two remaining pitchers."
Mackenzie Bender (St. Albert, AB) pitched the first inning of game three against MSUB, throwing an inning, allowing three hits and four runs.
Jessica Fortier (Three Hills, AB) threw the final six frames of the evening contest, allowing seven runs on nine hits.
Robyn Mogavero (Whitby, ON) scored twice in the game for SFU while
Stefanie Sheard (Winnipeg, MB) had two runs batted in.
After MSUB took a 4-0 lead in the first inning, SFU clawed back with three of their own in the bottom of the first.
The Clan rally started with a two out double off the bat of
Kaitlyn Cameron (Langley, BC) who scored on a
Rachel Proctor (Surrey, BC) single.
Mogavero and
Nicole Ratel (Langley, BC) followed up the RBI single with walks to load the bases and Sheard singled to left to score two and pull her team within one.
That was as close as the Clan would get in the final game of the series as MSUB scored two in the second to extend their lead to 6-3 before securing the five run victory.
In game two Fortier got the start, pitching all seven innings.
The two sides matched each other step for step as the Clan scored three in the bottom of the first only to have MSUB score three in the top of the second.
Montana State University Billings took the lead with two in the top of the fifth while the Clan came back with two in the bottom of the fifth but MSUB broke open for five in the seventh while the Clan responded with three in their half of the seventh, falling just shy of the comeback.
Cameron and Proctor each went two for four with two runs scored while Proctor also had two RBI's.
Ratel had a hit and two walks in the game, scoring three runs and knocking in three.
Shleby McCannel (Lake Stevens, WA) also had a multi-hit game, going two for four with a run scored and two RBI's.
Fortier and Bender each pitched in the first game, which was started on Saturday before being suspended heading into the bottom of the fifth inning due to rain.
"Unfortunately the injury to
Jessica Goulet put pressure on a couple of young pitchers that struggled at times and that was compounded with a few defensive mistakes that turned into some runs that weren't earned," continued Renney.
With the game tied 3-3 in in the fourth inning, MSUB started pulling away, scoring four in the fourth, two in the fifth and four in the sixth to build their lead.
Goodman and Mogavero each scored twice for the Clan while Cameron, Proctor and Johnson each plated once while Cameron, Proctor, Sheard and Caron notched RBI's for the Clan.
"The silver lining was the offence in a dark cloud that kind of hovered over us throughout the weekend. It certainly wasn't the outcome we wanted in our last home games of the year."
"We finish with 11 healthy players, with several people playing out of position. It was an adventure at times and one of the things our team is fully aware of is we will have a deeper bench next year and there will be more competition for playing time," finished Renney.
The 2014 season will come to a close for the Clan next week as they travel south to face the Saint Martin's Saints on Saturday and the conference leading Western Oregon Wolves on Sunday.
