KEYSER, W.Va. — WVU Potomac State College split a doubleheader with Chesapeake on Tuesday.
The Catamounts (26-11, 15-3 NJCAA Region 20) won first first game 9-4 before the Skipjacks (13-13, 9-6 Region 20) took the second one, 11-2.
“We knew coming in they had two losses in the conference and we had one, we knew they were gonna be tough,” Potomac State head coach Craig Rotruck said. “Once we got the first one, we knew it would set a little bit of distance in the conference.”
In the opener, Potomac State struck first with a four-run first inning.
With two runners on, a ground ball off Jamie Kelly’s bat went underneath the second baseman’s legs for a two-run fielding error.
Two batters later, Emily Horn sent a fly ball deep to left center for a no-doubt two-run home run.
“We came up, got a couple people on base,” Rotruck said. “We had a couple balls in the gap which helped us get up 4-0.”
Horn led Potomac State with three hits and three RBIs.
Trailing 4-0, Hannah Schmitz worked a full count in the top of the fourth.
She hit a fly ball deep down the left field line and kept it fair for a solo home run to put the Skipjacks on the board.
With a 4-1 run in the bottom of the fifth, Braylee Corbin sent the first pitch she saw down the third base line and into left for an RBI double.
Two batters later, the first pitch was wild, scoring Corbin to extend the Catamounts lead to 6-1.
“We pulled them in and told them we need better quality at-bats,” Rotruck said. “Some of our at-bats are not very good when they start coaching them through it. Go up there, pay a little more attention. That’s what they did the last couple innings.”
With one out in the top of the sixth, Laura Hughes sent a fly ball to left.
It cleared the American flag in left center for a two-run shot to cut Chesapeake’s deficit to 6-3.
Later in the inning, a ground ball got past second base and into right field.
After Courtney Adams was unable to handle it in right field, a run scored.
Potomac State added three insurance runs in the sixth.
Kelly sent the first pitch on the ground past third for an RBI base hit.
Horn hit a popup towards third base that dropped in for a hit and scored another run.
On the next pitch, Heather Williams sent the first pitch deep to left and off the top of the fence for an RBI double to go up 9-4.
Chloe Greise went the distance for the Catamounts. She stranded at least one runner in six of the seven innings.
Greise allowed seven hits, two earned runs and three walks with seven strikeouts.
“She got a few balls up and they took advantage of it,” Rotruck said. “Then she came back and made some quality pitches when she had to.”
Rebecca Wright took the loss in 5 2/3 innings, allowing 12 hits, six earned runs and two walks without a strikeout.
Kelly, Williams and Meghan Harris each had a pair of hits for the Catamounts with Kelly having in three RBIs.
Game two wasn’t as fortunate for Potomac State.
It was a rough first couple innings for starter Charity Wolfe.
With two on and one out in the top of the first, Emma Beales sent an 0-2 pitch to left center.
It cleared the fence for a three-run home run to put the Skipjacks ahead.
After a flyout the next at-bat, Laura Hughes and Erin Bowen both recorded singles on the first pitch.
“She left a couple balls up, and they took advantage of it,” Rotruck said of Wolfe’s start. “Charity’s coming off an injury, she just didn’t have much velocity on the ball. She was leaving it in the middle of the plate, when you do that against good teams, you’re not gonna have good success.”
Chesapeake picked up right where they left off in the top of the second.
Cheyanne Jester led off with a single off Adams’ glove.
Becca Sawyer sent a line drive past third base for another hit.
Loren Tucker bunted down the third base line for an infield single to load the bases with no outs.
Emily Gunther hit a line drive to left center, scoring two on an RBI single to put the Skipjacks up 5-0.
Beales hit a soft chopper towards third for an infield hit to load the bases again with nobody out.
Wolfe seemed to settle in to begin the third inning with a called strikeout on three pitches and a groundout.
However, Sawyer sent a 1-1 pitch deep to left, keeping it fair for a solo shot to push Chesapeake’s lead to 6-0.
In the bottom of the third, Kelly hit a line drive to left for a RBI knock, then Braylee Corbin got a hit to load the bases with two outs.
A groundout three pitches later ended the inning and kept the score 6-1.
“We’ve been looking for a two out hit for a long time,” Rotruck said. “Maybe I’ll run up to Walmart, see if they have them for sale.”
The Skipjacks pulled away in the fourth with four runs.
Chesapeake had six base runners in the inning. Four were on plays where the ball deflected off Catamount gloves for either hits or fielding errors.
Potomac State committed three errors, but had at least two or three additional plays where the ball deflected off fielder’s gloves.
“We didn’t play very well defensively, our girls can make those plays and didn’t make them,” Rotruck said.
The Catamounts added a run in the fifth off a fielding error.
Wolfe went 3 2/3 innings and was credited with 11 hits, six earned runs and a walk with two strikeouts.
Schmitz threw five innings for Chesapeake, allowing six hits, two unearned runs and three walks with three strikeouts.
Beales led the Skipjacks with four hits and four RBIs while Sawyer had three hits and two RBIs.
Kelly and Williams each had a pair of hits for the Catamounts.
Potomac State hosts Allegany College of Maryland for a doubleheader on Wednesday starting at 3 p.m.
“If we sweep Allegany, we’ll be the one seed in the tournament, that’s our top goal,” Rotruck said. “Allegany’s got the capability to sneak in here and get us. We can’t afford a split, we gotta come in here ready to play.”