NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. -- Gwynedd Mercy headed south for their Spring Break to the Fastpitch Dreams Spring Classic in North Myrtle Beach and came home with six wins in eight games.
Gwynedd Mercy 11, LaRoche 4Sunday's first game saw the Griffins open the season with a bang, defeating LaRoche, 11-4.
Alyssa Morales did it on the mound and at the plate, as the first-year player scattered six hits with one earned run, three walks and three strikeouts and went 2-for-4 with 5 RBI's.
Jessica Behr went 2-for-4 with a double and a triple and rookie
Becki Christoffers scored three times, stole three bases and reached on five plate appearances. Down 4-3 in the fourth, Morales delivered a bases-loaded clearing single. She would strike again in the fifth with a two-out, two-run triple.
Gwynedd Mercy 10, Hilbert 2The second game on Sunday had GMercyU taking advantage of six walks and four errors.
Amanda Wortham delivered a two-run triple in the second as part of a three-run frame to get out to a 3-1 lead. Two sac flys and a run scoring on an error in the fourth upped the lead to 6-1. Gwynedd would add a three-spot in the fifth to end the game via the eight-run rule.
MaryKate Ballerino would tie a career-high with three stolen bases.
Kim Machalette allowed just one earned run on six hits with no walks and three K's
Greensboro 10, Gwynedd Mercy 0On Monday morning, the Griffins were limited to just five hits in the loss to the Pride. Greensboro led just 1-0 after three, but a five-run fourth was too much to overcome. Behr had one of the hits, a double in the second. Morales was touched up for four runs on six hits in just over three innings of work.
Gwynedd Mercy 6, Penn College 3Gwynedd got back on track later in the afternoon, using a four-run sixth to erase a 3-2 deficit. Behr and
Tara Matteo would knock in two runs each, both with two outs, on a double and later a single, respectively. Christoffers again reached base in every plate appearance, walking four times, and scoring three runs, while adding two stolen bases. Matteo would add four swipes on the basepaths. Morales would come on in relief of Machalette in the fifth, and allow just one hit in three innings to pick up the win.
Gwynedd Mercy 6, Mount Aloysius 5Nikki Canfield's two-out, two-run triple in the top of the seventh broke a 4-4 tie, allowing the Griffins to hang on to defeat the Mounties on Wedneday. Machalette would come in the game in the sixth, and after allowing a run in the seventh, nail down the win in the seventh, getting a groundout with the tying runner at third. Canfield finished with three RBI's, while she and Behr were both 2-for-4. Behr cranked out her first home run of the season in the fifth.
Gwynedd Mercy 8, Cazenovia 6The Griffins again used a huge rally late to come back and knock off Cazenovia, plating six runs on five hits and three errors in the bottom of the sixth. Christoffers and Matteo both went 1-for-2 with two runs scored, two walks, and an RBI each. Morales went the distance, getting a 1-2-3 seventh to close it out.
Lycoming 10, Gwynedd Mercy 6The second game of the day on Thursday had the Warriors storm back after Gwynedd jumped out early. After scoring five runs in the top of the first, GMercyU saw Lycoming answer with two in the bottom half and later a seven-run third. Christoffers was 3-for-4 with a double and RBI. Machalette was roughed up for the 10 runs on 12 hits.
Gwynedd Mercy 13, Franciscan 0Friday's final game was a makeup from Wednesday, and the Griffins brought the bats out to close out their trip. The team totaled 13 hits while Morales held the Barons to just three hits. Machalette broke out, going 3-for-4 with 5 RBI's, three doubles, and two runs scored. Leading 4-0 after three, the squad busted out for eight runs in the fourth to help put the game out of reach.
On the trip, Christoffers batted .588 (10-for-17) with 13 runs, 13 walks, three hit by pitches while and six stolen bases, posting a .765 on-base percentage. Behr was equally impressive, going .423 (11-for-26) with five extra-base hits (two doubles, two triples, and a homer) with seven RBI's and eight runs scored.
Morales would go 4-1 on the trip, yielding a 2.32 ERA in 31 innings of work. She fanned 14 while allowing 18 runs (eight earned).
Gwynedd Mercy hosts Penn State-Brandywine on Saturday in the team's home opener in a non-conference double dipper. Game one gets underway starting at noon.
