LEESBURG, Fla. -- The Bridgewater State University softball team dropped a pair of game on Sunday at The Spring Games in Leesburg, Florida.
The Bears (1-3) suffered a 7-4 setback to the University of Mount Union in the first game and were blanked by Elizabethtown College in game two, 8-0.
Mount Union 7, Bridgewater State 4
Bridgewater rallied from a 4-0 deficit to close to within 5-4, but a big two-run home run by sophomore Morgan Riley (Charleroi, Pa.) in the bottom of the sixth gave the Raiders two key insurance runs.
Down 4-0 and having managed just two hits over the first four innings, the BSU offense got untracked in the top of the fifth. Junior left fielder Jenny Heller (Taunton, Mass.) led off the frame with a base hit and, two batters later, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Following a walk to junior pinch hitter Rebecca Uschmann (Feeding Hills, Mass.), sophomore shortstop Samantha Mulcahy (Taunton, Mass.) singled to drive in Heller, and Uschmann would also come around to score on a throwing error.
After Mount Union plated a run in the bottom of the fifth, the Bears pushed across two more runs in the top of the sixth on a two-out, two-run single by junior third baseman Courtney Gouveia (Taunton, Mass.). Sophomore first baseman Shannon Grindle (Halifax, Mass.) and freshman DP Krista Kennedy (Danvers, Mass.) opened the inning with back-to-back base hits and both came around to score on Gouveia's base knock.
But Riley's two-run blast with one out in the bottom of the sixth halted the BSU comeback bid. Sophomore pitcher Hannah Reusser (Minerva, Ohio) gave up a pair of two-out singles in the seventh, but induced a harmless pop out to end the game and secure the victory for the Raiders.
Reusser went the distance in the circle giving up four runs (three earned) on nine hits with a walk and five strikeouts.
Riley went 3-for-4 at the plate with a double and the two-run dinger. She scored two runs.
Sophomore right-hander Kaitlyn Shaw (Lakeville, Mass.) took the loss for the Bears as she worked the first four innings and allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits. Junior right Mackenzie Holt (Gilroy, Calif.) tossed the final two innings and gave up three runs (two earned) on three hits and three walks with a pair of strikeouts.
Elizabethtown 8, Bridgewater State 0
Sophomore Alyssa Wilkinson (Quakertown, Pa.) tossed a complete game, six-hit shutout to highlight the 8-0 victory for Elizabethtown. Wilkerson walked one and fanned four.
The Blue Jays, who banged out 20 hits in the contest, plated at least one run in each of the final five innings and left ten runners on base.
Graduate shortstop Kirstin Blass (Catawissa, Pa.) and freshman catcher Sarah Personette (Schuykill, Pa.) finished with three hits apiece for Elizabethtown. Blass went 3-for-4 with two doubles, two runs and an RBI, while Personette went 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI.
Kennedy went 2-for-3 to pace the BSU offense. The Bears also got two hits out of the leadoff spot as Holt went 1-for-3 and senior Courtney Banzi (Plymouth, Mass.) added a pinch hit single.
Sophomore Deianeira Underhill (Rochester, Mass.) went the distance in the circle for Bridgewater State in the losing effort. Underhill allowed eight runs (seven earned) with two walks and a strikeout.
The Florida trip continues for Bridgewater State on Monday morning as the Bears take on Mount Ida College (9:00 AM) and Carthage College (11:30 AM).