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Box Score 2 STEUBENVILLE, Ohio -- The Grove City College softball team maintained its grip on first place in the Presidents' Athletic Conference by taking both ends of a conference doubleheader Tuesday afternoon at Franciscan. Grove City (22-11, 13-5) won the opener in five innings, 10-0. Grove City also won the nightcap, 10-0, in a game stopped after five innings due to the eight-run rule.
Sophomore pitcher
Abigail Meadors (Warren, Ohio/Champion) struck out 13 batters in the opener as she threw a three-hit shutout. Junior
Kyla Campbell (Altoona, Pa./Glendale) fired a one-hit shutout in Game Two. Campbell struck out seven. Neither pitcher walked a batter.
Meadors and Campbell helped lead Grove City's 10-hit attack in Game One. Meadors went 3 for 3 with two runs batted in while Campbell doubled twice and scored two runs. Senior second baseman
Maci Linhart (Columbiana, Ohio/Columbiana) doubled, singled and knocked in three runs while senior first baseman
Brooke Brodie (Mogadore, Ohio/Mogadore) and junior center field
Noel Anthony (Clarion, Pa./Clarion) both doubled.
Grove City took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Brodie doubled in sophomore left fielder
Evelyn Montone (Allentown, Pa./Parkland). Montone's fielder's choice in the second inning scored sophomore pinch runner
Abby Stouffer (Greencastle, Pa./Greencastle-Antrim) while Campbell later scored on a Linhart single.
Linhart highlighted Grove City's six-run third inning with a two-run double. Campbell doubled in Anthony while Meadors singled home freshman pinch runner
Sydney McBride (Gainesville, Va./Battlefield). Meadors scored when junior catcher
Kristin Tesch (Clinton Township, Mich./Chippewa Valley) hit into a fielder's choice. Brodie closed the outburst when her sacrifice fly scored Montone.
Meadors singled in Anthony in the fourth inning, giving Grove City a 10-0 lead.
Grove City churned out 14 hits in Game Two, including three-hit efforts from Anthony and Montone. Anthony went 3 for 3 with two doubles and four runs batted in. Montone finished 3 for 4. Brodie and Linhart also doubled for Grove City, which led 3-0 in the first inning.
Sophomore DP
Emma Covert (Chicora, Pa./Moniteau) opened the scoring when she singled in Montone. Anthony's two-run double then brought home Covert and Linhart. In the third inning, Anthony doubled in freshman pinch runner
Elena Tylka (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township). Anthony and senior right fielder
Annika Rinehart (McDonald, Pa./Fort Cherry) then scored on a two-run single by senior shortstop
Rachel Zona (New Castle, Pa./New Castle).
The lead grew to 8-0 when Montone singled in Campbell and Zona. Brodie scored on Anthony's fourth-inning single while Linhart doubled home Montone in the fifth inning.
Grove City owns a one-game lead over Westminster (11-5) in the conference standings. Allegheny is also one game back at 12-6. Westminster hosts Thiel (8-8) in a conference doubleheader Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. while Allegheny visits Washington & Jefferson (7-9) at 3:30 Wednesday afternoon for a twinbill. Geneva (10-6) hosts Bethany (8-7) in a doubleheader Wednesday.
The top six teams qualify for the conference tournament, which will be held May 1-3 at the No. 1 seed's home field.
Grove City concludes its regular season Saturday at 1 p.m. when the Wolverines host Saint Vincent (7-9) in a conference doubleheader at College Field. The Wolverines will clinch a quarterfinal round bye in the conference tournament with two wins Saturday.
