KISSIMEE, Fla. – The Mount Vernon Nazarene University softball team started 2022 with three wins in its first four games.
The Lady Cougars opened their season with a pair of wins over Clarke University (3-2, 0-0) and Warner University (3-4, 0-0) by final scores of 9-1 and 4-0 on Friday, Feb. 25, in Kissimmee, Fla. The following day was another doubleheader, and the Lady Cougars split, defeating Florida National (8-4, 0-0) 8-5 before falling to the University of Michigan-Dearborn (2-1, 0-0) 8-6.
On Friday against Clarke, he Lady Cougars were eager to get back on the field after a strong 2021 season. MVNU struck fast, taking a 2-0 lead off a Kaycee Ollis homer in the top of the first. Macee Marcum doubled the lead with a home run of her own in the top of the third inning. MVNU scored two more runs in the fourth thanks to RBI from Mackenzie Hancock and Megan Pentz. Ollis was not done as she added another home run in the top of the fifth to expand the lead even more.
The Lady Cougars tacked on two more insurance runs in the top of the seventh due to a fielder’s choice and some aggressive base-running. Sheridan Sullivan was excellent for the Lady Cougars, allowing only one hit and one other base-runner via an error in 7 innings of work in the circle.
In game two, the Lady Cougars struck quickly again against Warner. MVNU got out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning after Marcum hit a sacrifice fly that scored Kylee Matern. The score remained the same until the bottom of the fifth. Matern closed the door on Warner with a three-run bomb to make it 4-0 MVNU. Matern went 2-for-3 at the plate with three RBI and a homer in game two.
Katelyn Perkins got the nod for game two and pitched 3 shutout innings. Nadia Hoffman pitched 4 scoreless innings of relief. Each pitcher only gave up one hit, while Hoffman struck out five batters as well.
In the first game of Sunday’s twin bill, trailing 1-0 in the bottom-third, MVNU got it together in a big way. Matern took the first pitch of the at-bat and hit her second home run of the season to tie the game. Kaycee Ollis got in on the fun, hitting her third homer of the season just two at-bats later. The two-run shot put MVNU up 3-1. After giving up a run in the fifth, the Lady Cougars responded with five runs in the bottom of the sixth to take an 8-2 lead. Florida National tried to make the game interesting in the top of the seventh, scoring three runs. The comeback effort was not enough, however, as the Lady Cougars held on for their third win of the season.
Sheridan Sullivan picked up the win, going the entire 7 innings. Sullivan allowed five runs (four earned) on eight hits and struck out four.
In game two, the Lady Cougars pounced right out of the gate, scoring four runs in the top of the first. Dearborn responded with a home run in the bottom of the first and three runs in the bottom of the second to tie the game at four. MVNU reclaimed the lead in the top of the fourth after an RBI from Marcum and a sac-fly from Ollis. Trailing 6-4 heading into the bottom-sixth, Dearborn tied the game with two runs. With the game now tied 6-6 in the bottom of the seventh, the Wolverines hit a two-run shot to take the game in walk-off fashion by a score of 8-6.
