FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Bridgewater State University softball team remained unbeaten on the young season as the Bears posted wins over Bethany Lutheran College and Kenyon College on Wednesday in Fort Myers, Florida. Bridgewater downed Bethany Lutheran, 7-5, and edged Kenyon, 2-1.
With the two victories, the Bears improve to 8-0 on the year.
In the opener, Bridgewater banged out 12 hits and held off a late Viking rally. BSU led 7-2 through five innings of play scoring three times in the second inning and adding two runs in the third and single tallies in both the fourth and fifth innings.
Meghan Dunn (Colchester, Mass.) picked up the win the circle for the Bears as she allowed four runs (two earned) on six hits while striking out four and walking one to improve to 3-0.
Bethany Lutheran's Gena Chester (Mankato, Minn.) led off the game with a home run and the Vikings held a 2-0 advantage after an inning and a half.
RBI singles by Jasmyn McCone (Taunton, Mass.), Dunn and Jordan McDermott (East Bridgewater, Mass.) in the bottom of the second gave Bridgewater a 3-2 edge. The Bears took advantage of a pair of Viking miscues in the third to increase their lead to 5-2.
An RBI groundout by Jennifer Shaw (Brockton, Mass.) in the fourth and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Courtney Gregoire (Dartmouth, Mass.) in the fifth made it a 7-2 game.
Bethany Lutheran rallied for a pair of runs in the top of the sixth to cut the deficit to 7-4. After Dunn struck out the first batter of the frame, she gave up a single and an RBI double. Amber White (Middleboro, Mass.) came on to relieve Dunn and fanned the first batter she faced. However, a single coupled with a BSU throwing error led to the second run of the inning.
A two-out RBI double in the seventh pulled the Vikings to with 7-5, but White ended the game with big strike out to give the Bears the 7-5 win.
Shaw and Penny King (Hanover, Mass.) notched two hits apiece to pace the Bears' 12-hit attack.
Amanda Edmison (Mayer, Minn.) went 3-for-4 to lead the way offensively for the Vikings. Edmison was also saddled with the loss in the circle as she was touched for seven runs (five earned) on 12 hits with two walks and three strikeouts.
White pitched very well in the Bears' 2-1 victory over Kenyon as she improved her win-loss record to a perfect 5-0. White gave up just an unearned run on six hits with a walk and a strikeout.
Bridgewater broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth as Brianna Strecker (Waterford, Conn.) led off the frame with a double. Pinch runner Brianna DeNucci (Newton, Mass.) moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on Jessica Laudati's (Berkley, Mass.) pinch hit RBI single. The Bears would have the bases loaded and less than two outs later in the frame but were unable to push across any more runs.
Kenyon would tie the game at 1-1 in the top of the fifth. Liz Paterra (Longmont, Colo.) reached on an error and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Jamie Samuel (Malibu, Calif.) would rap a clutch two-out single to right-center to plate Paterra with the tying run.
The Bears would push across the winning run in the bottom of the sixth. Michaela Ferreira (Fall River, Mass.) walked with one out. Pinch hitter Stephanie Burns (North Attleboro, Mass.) singled moving Ferreira to third. Ferreira would come around to score when the ball was misplayed in left field.
Maddy Stark (Alenview, Ill.) suffered the loss in the circle for Kenyon. Stark allowed two runs (one earned) on six hits and six walks while striking out five. She stranded nine runners on base.
Bridgewater wraps up its Florida trip with games against WPI and Rockford College on Thursday.