The Wayne State College softball team spent spring break at the National Training Center Spring Games in Clermont and Minneola, Fla., and racked up three victories in eight games played.

“I think we started off the week rougher than what we had hoped,” senior infielder Melanie Alyea said. “We definitely pulled it together at the end of the trip.”

The Wildcats’ first game played was against Notre Dame College (Ohio) on March 3. Both teams battled back and forth, but ultimately the Falcons came out on top, 6-5 in 10 innings.

WSC got on the scoreboard first in the third inning and scored one run in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. In the fifth inning, Notre Dame’s Erin Calhoun singled to right field, scoring two, and gave the Falcons a 3-2 lead.

The game was tied 5-5 going into the 10th inning, when Calhoun singled to left field to win the game for the Falcons.

Game two of the trip was another close encounter, as the Wildcats fell one run short yet again, this time against West Virginia Wesleyan.

The Wildcats did not start off the game the way they’d hope, allowing five runs in the first inning. WSC countered with two runs of its own, when junior catcher Katelyn Wobken tripled and junior outfielder Rachel Shumaker delivered the RBI double to score senior infielder Alyssa Schropp.

The score was 7-5 headed into the seventh, when freshman infielder Sarah Hunter scored off Melanie Alyea’s double. The ’Cats could not muster another run and the score ended up 7-6.

“Our hitting really showed that we’re able to battle with really good teams,” Melanie Alyea said. “In the end, we need to pull together more hits and score runs.”
Game three against Rockhurst University was once again a one-run differential at the end. Wobken started off the game with a bang with a homer to left field, giving the ’Cats an early lead.

WSC led 3-1 heading into the seventh inning when it all fell apart.

Rockhurst’s Lauren Marks doubled to tie the game 3-3, and was then followed by Payton Staggs hitting the walk-off double to left field scoring Marks, as the Hawks won a nail biter 4-3.

“Errors lost us those games,” Melanie Alyea said. “When we made the errors, our opponents ended up with the momentum and won. If we don’t make those errors, we win those games.”

The Wildcats finally got back in the win column March 6, with a victory over Findlay (Ohio). The game was tied 2-2 when the Wildcats used a four-run bottom of the sixth to pull ahead and win.

Wednesday’s first game was a tough outing against Wilmington University (Delaware), as the ’Cats fell short 12-2 in five innings. Wobken scored off a Melanie Alyea single to right field and Shumaker scored on an error for the only two runs scored.

“Our first few games were heartbreakers,” Head Coach Shelli Manson said. “They could’ve gone either way so it was hard for us to bounce back.”

Wednesday’s second game proved to be another battle as the Wildcats fell short against 16th-ranked Southern Indiana 12-6. The Eagles scored the first two runs of the game in the first inning.

WSC had big second and third innings, scoring two and four runs respectively. Senior catcher Monique Alyea and freshman outfielder Blair Shanks both delivered RBI singles in the second inning.

Monique Alyea and freshman infielder Jenna Stewart each had RBI singles in the third, and was followed up by Melanie Alyea and Shumaker each doubling to give the Wildcats the 6-2 lead.

Southern Indiana then rallied to score four runs in the fifth inning and six runs in the sixth to pull off the come-from-behind victory.

“We really only had Nataliah (Hopkins) pitching for us,” Manson said. “Riley (Vanderveen) was injured and could not play, so Nataliah carried the load pitching for us.

Thursday was the last day of games for the Wildcats, and they played in Minneola, Fla. Both games were victories, over Concordia College 7-2 and St. Joseph’s (Ind.) 4-2.

“Winning our last day was really good for us,” Manson said. “The team overcame a lot of adversity throughout the week.”

After the eight-game road trip, the Wildcats are now 4-14 overall, with another big weekend of play coming up.

“I think we need to improve on defense and also tighten up our offense,” Melanie Alyea said. “We need to score runners on base more than we did this past week.”

WSC softball will head to the Missouri Western Tournament in St. Joseph, Mo., this Friday, to take on Central Missouri at 10 a.m. and Northwest Missouri State at 4 p.m.