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Sophie Stironek holds a softball bat.
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Pictured, Sophie Stironek
9
Winner Hope HOPE 9-8
0
Earlham EARLHAM 13-6
Winner
Hope HOPE
9-8
9
Final
0
Earlham EARLHAM
13-6
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Hope HOPE 4 0 0 3 0 0 2 9 13 0
Earlham EARLHAM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2

5
Winner Hope HOPE 10-8
2
Earlham EARLHAM 13-7
Winner
Hope HOPE
10-8
5
Final
2
Earlham EARLHAM
13-7
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 R H E
Hope HOPE 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 4 5 9 0
Earlham EARLHAM 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 7 3

W: Mellec, Hailey (3-3) L: S. Messer (1-2)

Game Recap: Softball | | MacKenzie McMahon

Softball Finally Takes the Field Again, Sweeps Earlham on the Road

Playing for the first time in 11 days, the Hope College softball team claimed a 9-0 and 5-2 sweep at Earlham College (Indiana) on Tuesday.

The Flying Dutch pushed their winning streak to a season-best four games and improved to 10-8 on the season heading into this weekend's MIAA opener.

Commanding pitching performances from junior Gianna Kerschbaum (Baroda, Michigan / Stevensville-Lakeshore HS) and sophomore Hailey Mellec (Commerce, Michigan / Walled Lake Northern) propelled Hope on the road. 

In Game 1, Kerschbaum (6-3) fired a complete-game, two-hit shutout while striking out 11 batters over seven innings. The righthander's strikeout total tied for the eighth-most in a single game in program history, matching Sydney Jones' outing against Kalamazoo College on April 20, 2018. It was the Flying Dutch's third consecutive shutout.

Mellec's effort required extra innings. In Game 2, the lefthander pitched all eight innings of an extra-inning victory, striking out seven. Mellec (3-3) yielded seven hits but stranded the go-ahead run at third in the bottom of the sixth of a 1-1 game and squashed an eighth-inning rally with some help from her defense.

Hope completed the sweep when rightfielder Kate DeMann (Byron Center, Michigan / South Christian) threw out Earlham's Keely Hubbard trying to advance to third on a two-out single.

The Flying Dutch also supported their pitchers at the plate.

Hope wasted no time asserting control in Game 1 against Earlham, jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first. The Flying Dutch added three more in the fourth and two in the seventh.

Sophomore Terin Maynard (Grand Rapids, Michigan / Jenison) led the offensive charge, going 3-for-5 with two RBIs, including a two-run triple to left in the seventh.

DeMann, sophomore Sophie Stironek (Lake Orion, Michigan / Lake Orion), and freshman Sidnee Puffpaff (Macomb, Michigan / Dakota) all delivered two-hit games.

Hope was aggressive on the bases, recording six steals. Maynard led the way with two steals, while DeMann, junior Mya Spisz (Oxford, Michigan / Oxford), and senior Mady Pahl (Beaverton, Michigan / Beaverton) swiped one apiece.

Game 2 proved to be a much tighter contest, with both teams locked in a scoreless battle through five innings. 

Each side managed a single run in the sixth, and after another scoreless frame in the seventh, the game headed into extra innings.

Hope's offense came alive in the eighth, plating four runs to secure the victory after starting with Maynard on second base due to the NCAA extra-innings rule. Stironek, who went 4-for-4, sparked the rally with a clutch triple to center field, driving in two runs. 

Freshman Jalen Fossitt (Onondaga, Michigan / Leslie) followed with a fielder's choice RBI, allowing Stironek to score and extend the lead.

Five different players — Maynard, DeMann, Pahl, sophomore Olivia Miller (Hudsonville, Michigan / Unity Christian), freshman Mia Vanderheide (Caledonia, Michigan / Jenison International) and sophomore Macy Verbeek (Grandville, Michigan / Calvin Christian) — added a hit apiece. 

Vanderheide also joined Stironek in the extra-base hit column with a triple. Maynard stole two more bases.

Hope is scheduled to step back on the field on Saturday, April 5, at 1 p.m. to open MIAA play with a doubleheader at The University of Olivet.
 
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