CLERMONT, Fla. – The Bridgewater State University softball team split a pair of games on Wednesday at The Spring Games in Clermont, Florida.
The Bears (3-5) posted a 7-6 win over Catholic University and dropped an 11-0 decision in five innings to Eastern Nazarene College.
Bridgewater State 7, Catholic 6
The Bears held a 7-1 lead going into the bottom of the seventh inning and hung on for the 7-6 victory.
Bridgewater plated a run in the first on a passed ball and tacked on three more runs in the second on a two-run double by sophomore shortstop Samantha Mulcahy (Taunton, Mass.) and an RBI single off the bat of freshman right-fielder Alexandra Ruprecht (Kingston, Mass.). After the Cardinals cut the deficit to 4-1 on a sacrifice fly in the third, the Bears answered with a run in the fourth on another passed ball.
Junior first baseman Rebecca Uschmann (Feeding Hills, Mass.) doubled home a run in the seventh and scored on a Mulcahy RBI single to give the Bears the 7-1 lead.
Catholic exploded for five runs in the bottom of the seventh and had the tying run on second base with one out. However, BSU sophomore right-hander Kaitlyn Shaw (Lakeville, Mass.) retired the final two batters on a ground out and strikeout to secure the win for Bridgewater State.
Shaw (3-1) went the distance in the circle allowing six runs (four earned) on eight hits with a walk and three strikeouts.
Mulcahy went 3-for-4 at the plate with a double, a run and three RBI, while Uschmann went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, a run and an RBI to highlight BSU's' 14-hit attack. Junior third baseman Courtney Gouveia (Taunton, Mass.) also finished with multiple hits for the Bears as she was 2-for-4 with a run.
Eastern Nazarene 11, Bridgewater State 0 (5 Inn.)
Eastern Nazarene sprung for three runs in the top of the first inning to establish an early 3-0 lead. Junior third baseman Lauren Weidler (Lansdale, Pa.) raced home from third on a wild pitch before senior first baseman Emily Gomez (Floral Park, N.Y.) singled to center to drive in a pair of base runners.
The Lions manufactured four runs in the second to widen the margin to 7-0. Weidler laced a two-out single to centerfield to drive in two runs and junior DP Lauren Clements (Garrison, Texas) followed with her first home run of the year, a two-run blast to left.
ENC tacked on four runs in the fifth to stretch their advantage to double-digits, 11-0. Freshman shortstop Dominique Santos (Lancaster, Calif.) doubled home a run, while sophomore centerfielder Kayleen Garrick (Sparks, Nev.) added a two-run single in the frame and Clements recorded her third RBI of the game with a base hit.
Sophomore pitcher Elizabeth Schaffer (Benton, Pa.) tossed a four-hit shutout and fanned nine with no walks to notch her fourth win of the season.
The Bears had runners on base in each of the last four innings and had runners in scoring position in the second, third and fourth frames, but were unable to push across a run.
Mulcahy, Uschmann, junior catcher Tabitha Domeij (Westborough, Mass.) and junior centerfielder Kacie Carvalho (Fairhaven, Mass.) recorded hits for Bridgewater State in the setback.