LITTLE RIVER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University softball team won a pair of games on Friday at the Fastpitch Dreams Spring Classic in Little River, South Carolina.
The Bears (6-3) earned a 4-3 walk-off win in eight innings over Martin Luther College and rallied for a 12-8 victory against Penn College of Technology.
Bridgewater State 4, Martin Luther 3 (8 Inn.)
Bridgewater jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a Sydney Schaefer (Swarthmore, Pa.) sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first inning and an RBI single off the bat of Olyvia Mendonca (Taunton, Mass.) in the second.
After the Knights cut the deficit in half in the top of the third, the Bears answered with a run in the home half of the third as Angelina Lynch (Taunton, Mass.) singled, stole second, advanced to third on a throwing error and scored on Victoria Becker's (Abington, Mass.) RBI fielder's choice grounder.
Run scoring singles by Olivia Siehr and Rachel McCaughna in the top of the sixth knotted the score at 3-3.
The game remained that way until the bottom of the eighth. With pinch runner Kayliz Ortega (North Andover, Mass.) placed on second, Lynch flied out to left to advance Ortega to third and Becker followed with the game-winning RBI single.
Tatiana Burcy (Hyde Park, Mass.) picked up the win in relief of Mendonca. Burcy (2-1) retired eight of the nine batters she faced allowing just one hit with three strikeouts. Mendonca worked the first 5 1/3 innings giving up three runs on six hits with three walks.
Riley Fitzgerald (Swansea, Mass.) went 2-for-3 with a run to pace BSU's nine-hit attack. Marcotte reached on a bunt single in the bottom of the first to extend her hitting streak to eight games.
Lisa Hoffer went 2-for-4 and scored a run to pace the Knight's offense.
Jessica Horn went the distance in the circle for the Knights in the setback. Horn (1-10) gave up four runs (two earned) on nine hits over 7 1/3 innings with a walk and a strikeout.
Bridgewater State 12, Penn College 8
The Bears rallied from a three-run deficit to score three runs in the fifth inning and four in the sixth to post the 12-8 win.
Fitzgerald was a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate with two runs scored and a career-high five RBI in the win over the Wildcats. Lynch and Janet Jolly (Raynham, Mass.) also recorded multiple hits. Lynch went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, three runs and two RBI while Jolly single twice in four at bats, scored a run and knocked in one. She also stole a base.
Olivia Hargreaves (Weare, N.H.) tossed 4 1/3 innings of scoreless relief to pick up her second win of the season. Hargreaves (2-0) gave up just two hits with a pair of walks and six strikeouts.
Bridgewater jumped out to a 4-0 lead after one inning of play. Makayla Ansell (Menifee, Calif.) and Fitzgerald rapped RBI single while Lynch connected for a two-run double in the frame.
The lead was short-lived, however, as the Bears committed three errors in the top of the second inning which led to five unearned runs.
An RBI single by Jolly knotted the score at 5-5 in the home half of the second.
Penn College pushed across three runs in the top of the first to reclaim the lead, 8-5. Sofia Laspina and Madison Shaffer knocked in the first two runs of the inning with RBI singles while a wild pitch accounted for the third.
Trailing by three in the bottom of the fifth, the Bears rallied. Lynch doubled down the left field line to lead of the frame. Becker then reached on an error and stole second to put runners on second and third with nobody out. Fizgerald sliced a two-run single through the right side and moved up to second on a throw to the plate. Fitzgerald would tied the game two batters later on an RBI ground out by Hargreaves.
Bridgewater sent eight batters to the plate in a four-run sixth inning. With one out, the Bears strung together four straight hits including an RBI single by Becker and a Fitzgerald two-run single. After an out, Hargreaves plated Fitzgerald with an RBI single to cap off the inning and extend the lead to 12-8.
Laspina (2-4, SB, 2R, RBI), Lexi Snyder (2-3, SAC, R) and Fayth Anderson (2-2, 2R, RBI) each recorded multiple hits for the Wildcats.
Mackenzie Weaver suffered the loss in relief. Weaver (3-2) gave up seven runs (five earned) on nine hits over five innings with a walk and five strikeouts.
The Bears wrap up their trip to South Carolina tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM when they take on Sweet Briar College at the Fastpitch Dream Spring Classic. Heavy rain, however, is in the forecast.