The seventh-ranked and third-seeded Case Western Reserve University softball team dropped its first game at the 2024 NCAA Division III Softball Championship Finals, falling 5-2 to 10th-ranked and sixth-seeded Belhaven University on Friday afternoon at Bell Park at Taylor Field in Marshall, Texas.
CWRU (40-8) will face seventh-seeded Rowan at 8 p.m. ET in an elimination game after the Profs fell to the second-seeded East Texas Baptist 7-0 in earlier action. Belhaven (43-7) is scheduled to take on East Texas Baptist at 6 p.m.
After a scoreless first inning, the Blazers loaded the bases in the second frame with one out. Junior pitcher Lexi Miskey struck out the next batter and induced a pop up to keep Belhaven off the board. The game remained scoreless until Belhaven scored three runs in the third inning with a pair of two-out singles driving in two of the runs and then added on two runs in the top of the sixth on a two-run home run by Allie Gordon to go ahead 5-0.
The Spartans rallied in the bottom of the sixth to get on the board. First-year Karen Potts walked with one out and came around to score on a two-out triple by senior KaiLi Gross, CWRU's first hit of the game against Belhaven's Kennedy Carruth. It was the 13th-career triple for Gross, matching former Spartan Molly O'Brien's (2012-15) career record.
A batter later, Gross crossed the plate on a wild pitch to trim the Blazers' advantage to 5-2. However, that would be all of the offense the Spartans would be able to muster in the loss.
Miskey suffered the loss in the game, falling to 26-5 on the season, after allowing five runs (two earned) on seven hits and four walks with four strikeouts in five and a third innings. Senior Jenna Jaklich pitched the final inning and two-thirds, holding the Blazers hitless and allowing just one walk with a strikeout.
Carruth earned the complete-game win for Belhaven, giving up two runs on a hit and three walks with 12 strikeouts, improving to 27-4 for the season.
Fans can follow the Spartans as they look to bounce back tonight against Rowan with live stats at https://goetbutigers.com/sidearmstats/softball/ and live video at https://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule/.