By Kameron Towle
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CLAREMONT – Stevens softball beat ConVal 12-0 in five innings on Thursday evening at Veterans Park, with the help of a no-hitter on the mound from senior Madison Lapsley and a 7-run offensive binge in the third.
“Our bats are continuing to stay hot even with mixing up the batting lineup the past couple games,” said Cardinals head coach Missy Nichols, who was without two starters Thursday.
After facing John Stark pitcher Izzy Nelson on Monday, who had 12 strikeouts and 1 walk in the 6-0 win over Stevens, the Cardinals have since bounced back and have improved after facing that stiff competition.
“We had a little confidence deflate when we played John Stark… I think we kind of took ourselves out of the game early,” said coach Nichols. “But as the game went on they started swinging the bats and got better… so now I think we’re back to believing that we can play and our bats have been hot since.”
On Wednesday, the Cardinals beat Lebanon 22-2, and on Thursday, they piled on 14 more hits.
In the bottom of the third alone, Stevens tallied 8 hits, including RBI-doubles from both Ashlynn Marsh and pitcher Madison Lapsley, and an RBI-triple off the bat of Katelyn Chambers. Also in the inning, RBI-singles were recorded by Gabby Labounty, Jenna Pond, Tanner Brown, and Ellee Grenier. After the 7-run inning, Stevens led 10-0 after three.
On the mound for Stevens, Lapsley registered a no-hitter. In five innings, she struck out 5 while walking 3 and hitting 1 batter in the shut out.
“We were solid defensively and [Lapsley] pitched great on the mound,” said Nichols. “If we continue to do these things then we can be in some games.”
Stevens allowed only 5 base runners on the day and committed just one error in the field. Chambers made a couple nice grabs on foul-flys from her first base position and Labounty was solid behind the plate all game. On offense, they scored in each of their 4 bottom-half innings.
The Cardinals’ first two runs came in the bottom of the first, as Marsh scored on a passed ball after reaching with a single, and a sacrifice-bunt by Chambers knocked in Pond who reached with a bunt of her own.
Marsh picked up Stevens’ lone run in the third by scoring on a mishandled pop-up off the bat of Chambers.
In the fourth, Zoey Foote and Brianna Frisbee crossed the plate for the Cardinals.
With the win, Stevens moves to .500 (4-4) in D-II and will now rest until a doubleheader against Newport on Friday, May 10.
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