MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Hilbert Softball dropped a pair of games Monday at the Fastpitch Dreams Classic, falling 3-2 to Thiel College before Penn College secured a 1-0 walk-off victory on a sacrifice fly in the nightcap at North Myrtle Beach.
Despite the results, Hilbert produced several notable performances at the plate and in the circle. The Hawks collected 12 hits across the two games, highlighted by a three-hit outing from
Madison Esmond in the opener, while the pitching staff combined to allow just four earned runs over 13.2 innings of work.
Game One – Thiel 3, Hilbert 2
Hilbert outhit Thiel 11-5 in the opener but could not overcome a pair of key hits as the Tomcats held on for a 3-2 win.
The Hawks struck first in the top of the first inning when
Ava Higgins delivered an RBI single to left field that scored
Jazlynn Soliz to give Hilbert an early 1-0 lead. Thiel answered in the bottom of the second with a two-run double to take a 2-1 advantage.
Hilbert pulled even in the fifth inning. After
Shelby Schimek reached base and
Charly Mathews entered as a pinch runner,
Miyah Lopez lined a single to left field that brought Mathews home to tie the game at 2-2.
Thiel responded in the bottom half of the inning with an RBI single that proved to be the difference.
Madison Esmond led the Hawks offensively with a 3-for-4 performance, while Schimek added two hits including a double. Higgins and Lopez each recorded an RBI.
Kimberly Bentley took the loss in the circle after allowing five hits and three runs over 4.2 innings of work, while
Kailey Stolowski tossed 1.1 scoreless innings of relief.
Game Two – Penn College 1, Hilbert 0
The Hawks were locked in a tight pitching duel with Penn College in the second game before the Wildcats secured the win with a walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh.
Hilbert was limited to one hit in the contest, coming off the bat of
Kaitlin Stolowski, but the Hawks worked six walks and kept the game scoreless through six innings.
Kailey Stolowski started in the circle and struck out five across four shutout innings while allowing four hits.
Stephanie Mirras followed with two scoreless frames of relief to keep the Wildcats off the board.
Penn College finally broke through in the bottom of the seventh inning when a runner crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly to left field to end the game.
Hilbert falls to 1-5 overall and will continue competition tomorrow morning. The Hawks will face Penn State Scranton (9 am) and Penn State Abington (11 am) before they conclude the Classic on March 12th with a 9 am double header against Keystone State.
