CAPE CORAL, Fla. -- The Bridgewater State University softball team split a pair of games at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic in Cape Coral, Florida on Wednesday. The Bears dropped a 5-2 decision to Olivet College, but rebounded with a 5-3 win over Emmanuel College.

Bridgewater State wraps up the Florida trip with an overall record of 7-3.

in the early game, a five-run third inning for Olivet erased a 2-0 deficit and helped catapult the Comets to the victory.

The Bears banged out 11 hits in the contest and were issued three walks, but left 14 runners on base.

Jessica Laudati (Berkley, Mass.) staked BSU to the early lead as she led off the top of the second inning with the Bears' first home run of the season.  Breanna Shaffer (Plainville, Mass.) doubled and came around to score on Samantha LoPilato's (Medford, Mass.) RBI single in third to give Bridgewater the 2-0 advantage.

The Comets responded in the bottom of the third inning by sending nine batters to the plate. Ashlynn Grubb (LaGrange, Ind.) singled home the first run of  the frame and came all the way around to score on Kris Forest's (Britton, Mich.) RBI double.  After a walk to Kelsey Scheenks (Bronson, Mich.) and a double steal, Madison Spry (Kalamazoo, Mich.) ripped a double to the gap in left-centerfield to give Olivet the 4-2 lead.  Konnor Geiger (Clarksville, Mich.) followed with an RBI double to cap off the scoring.

The Bears had numerous opportunities to score over the final four innings but stranded eight runners over that span including the bases loaded in the fourth. All told, BSU went 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position.

Grubb (4-1) went the distance in the circle for the Comets allowing two runs on 11 hits with three walks and eight strikeouts.

Spry and Haley Reed (Casco, Mich.) both finished 2-for-3 at the plate to pace the Olivet offense.

Kathleen Bailey (Bayport, N.Y.) suffered her first loss of the season for the Bears. Bailey (2-1) gave up five runs on nine hits with two walks and three strikeouts.  She also hit a batter.

Shaffer led the BSU 11-hit attack as she went 3-for-4 at the dish. Courtney Leddy (Saugus, Mass.), Kelly McCarthy (Burlington, Mass.) and Karissa Pagan (Brockton, Mass.) all finished with two hits apiece for the Bears. Pagan reached safely three times as she singled twice and walked. She also stole a base and recorded a sacrifice bunt.

The Bears jumped out to a 4-0 lead over regional foe Emmanuel College in the second game of the day and held on for the 5-3 victory.

Shaffer went 4-for-4 at the plate, stole four bases and scored three runs.

Iliana Rivera (Naugatuck, Conn.) allowed three runs on just one hit in 5 2/3 inning of work to earn the win in the circle for BSU. Riveral (3-1), who walked five and fanned one, cruised through the first five innings of the contest, retiring the first 14 batters she faced, before running into trouble in the sixth.

Bridgewater jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first as Shaffer singled, stole second and advanced to third on Jocelyn Bettencourt's (Plymouth, Mass.) bunt single.  After a wild pitch plated Shaffer with the first run of the game, back-to-back walks to Jackie Welch (Hubbarston, Mass.) and Laudati loaded the bases. Bettencourt would cross the plate one batter later on Leddy's RBI groundout.

Jill Kilcoyne (Worcester, Mass.) settled down in the circle retiring the final two batters of the frame to avoid any further damage.  Kilcoyne kept the Bears off the board over the next three innings before Shaffer ignited a rally in the fifth.

In the fifth, Shaffer led off the inning with a base hit and promptly stole second and third. Bettencourt walked to put runners on the corners and both runners would advance on a wild pitch. Welch followed  with an RBI single up the middle plating Bettencourt with the second run of the inning and fourth of the game.

Halas broke up Rivera's no-hit bid with one out in the bottom of the sixth on a solid single up the middle.  Rivera then walked four of the next five batters she faced to make it a 4-2 game.

Alexandra Wright (Lakeville, Mass.) came on in relief of Rivera and walked the first batter she faced to force in a run and reduce the Bears' lead to one, 4-3. Wright then avoided any further damage by inducing a harmless fly-out to left field.

Bridgewater tacked on an insurance run in the top of the seventh as Shaffer once again got things started with a lead-off base hit.  After a Bettencourt sacrifice bunt moved Shaffer into scoring position, Welch rifled an RBI single up the middle to give the Bears a 5-3 advantage.

Wright gave up just a two-out single in the seventh to secure the win and record her first career save.

Welch finished 2-for-3 for the game with a walk and two runs batted in. Bettencourt went 1-for-2 with a walks and two runs scored.

Kilcoyne (2-1) went the distance in the circle for Emmanuel as she allowed five runs on nine hits with three walks and seven strikeouts.