By By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
NILES - The Buchanan varsity softball team grabbed two big wins over South Haven Friday evening, but fell to Watervliet on Monday.
Against the Rams, the Bucks won the first game 17-8 and picked up an 11-4 win in the nightcap.
In game one, Buchanan jumped to a 7-1 lead after the first inning and extended the lead 10-1 in the third.
South Haven made an attempt to catch up in the bottom of the fifth when it scored six runs, but another seven runs in the sixth kept Buchanan out of reach.
Maggie Ernsberger had a strong performance at the plate for the Bucks, nailing a home run, double and a single.
Emily Ross added two triples and a single and Jill Woodrick and Destyni Dolan each had three singles.
In the circle, Ashley Pointer picked up her sixth win of the season, throwing five strikeouts and allowing 10 hits. Pointer is now 6-3 overall.
In the second game, Buchanan had a small 3-2 lead after the first inning, but two runs in the third and six runs in the sixth gave the Bucks another well deserved victory.
Ross had three singles for Buchanan in the nightcap, while Woodrick, Hayley Burks and Taylor Krumrie all had two hits each.
Jayme O'Bryant was the winning pitcher, bringing her record to 2-2 on the season. O'Bryant threw five strikeouts and allowed six hits.
On Monday, Buchanan traveled to Watervliet, a Division 2 honorable mention, for a pair of non-conference games and fell in both, 6-5 and 6-4.
In the first game, the Bucks were able to post a 4-4 tie in the fifth inning after trailing the Panthers for most of the game. Buchanan took a 5-4 lead in the top of the seventh, but Watervliet quickly tied in the bottom of the inning and went on to score one run in the bottom of the eighth to claim the win.
Top hitters were Ross with a triple and a single and Woodrick, who added two singles. Pointer suffered the loss in the circle.
In another close second game, the two teams entered the sixth inning tied at two. A late rally by Watervliet in the bottom of the sixth brought four runs across the plate to post a 6-2 lead.
The Bucks tried to make a comeback in the seventh, but could only bring in two runs.
Chenai Marker was the lone top hitter for the Bucks with two singles and O'Bryant suffered the pitching loss.
Buchanan will travel to Brandywine today for two big Lakeland Conference games. The first is set to begin at 4 p.m. Both teams are 4-0 in the Lakeland Conference.