A sweep of the day for the Hope College softball team as they tallied wins against St. Catherine University and a thrilling extra-inning win over Wisconsin-Whitewater on Tuesday.
A scoreless game heading into the bottom of the third, Hope grabbed the only run of the game along with two of the six total hits for the Flying Dutch in the game.
Freshman Mya Spisz (Oxford, Michigan / Oxford HS) led off the inning with a double to ignite Hope, followed by freshman Kennedi Pochmara (Clinton Township, Chippewa Valley) earning a single through the solid defense of St. Catherine.
Pochmara set the stage with a successful steal of second base to put runners on second and third.
Senior Peyton Benjamin (Eaton Rapids, Michigan / Eaton Rapids) knocked the ball deep to center field for a sacrifice fly that sent Spisz safely across home for go-ahead run.
Sophomore Grace Connelly (Grandville, Michigan / Grandville) collected the win for the Flying Dutch, her fourth win of the 2023 season, allowing just three hits in the 6.2 innings pitched.
Connelly slung a season-high seven strikeouts, faced 25 batters, and sent out 98 pitches during Hope's first win of the day.
"Grace came out on a mission today," said head coach Brittney Harvey. "She was loose, locked in and the defense was a wall behind her.'
Senior Haley Bennett (Livonia, Michigan / Benjamin Franklin) had a team-high two hits in game one.
Against Wisconsin-Whitewater, the Flying Dutch entered their second battle of the day, with three full scoreless innings in game two.
Junior Sydney Zombo (Clinton Township, Michigan / Fraser) sent in the go-ahead run in the top of the fourth inning on a double to left-center field, but Wisconsin-Whitewater responded to tie the game the next inning. Pochmara was placed on second base for the NCAA extra-inning rule to begin the top of the eighth.
Benjamin placed a sacrifice bunt down to advance Pochmara, bringing up junior Emily Martin (Whitehall, Michigan / Whitehall).
Martin executed a second bunt on the ground for Hope, sending in Pochmara for the eventual winning run.
"Those two [Benjamin and Martin] both come up to the plate with such composure and I had all the trust in the world they would execute [the bunts]."
Junior Samantha Vermeesch (Ithaca, Michigan / Ithaca) earned the win in relief in the circle, throwing six strikeouts in just 3.2 innings for Hope.
Zombo and Martin had a team-high two hits a piece for the Flying Dutch in their fifth win in Florida.
Hope takes on University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in a double header on Thursday, March 23 in Winter Haven, Florida with play beginning at 11:30 a.m.
