Softball Splits Pair of Game in Florida

CLERMONT, Fla. – The Bridgewater State University softball split a pair of games on Monday at The Spring Games in Clermont, Florida.

The Bears (2-4) defeated Coast Guard Academy in the opener, 5-1, and dropped a 2-1 decision to Carroll University in eight innings in game two.

Game One

Junior righthander Natalie Sorrenti (Bridgewater, Mass.) went the distance in the circle to lead the Bears to a 5-1 victory over Coast Guard in the opener.

Sorrenti (2-0) scattered five hits, walked one, hit a batter and fanned five. She worked out of bases loaded jams in both the first and second innings.

Senior Rebecca Uschmann (Feeding Hills, Mass.) broke a scoreless tie with a pinch hit bases loaded single in the top of the sixth inning. Junior Shannon Grindle (Halifax, Mass.) connected for a three-run homer in the seventh and senior Jenny Heller (Taunton, Mass.) followed with a solo blast to break the game open. The home runs marked the first of the season for both Grindle and Heller.

Bridgewater State left 11 runners on base for the game, while Coast Guard stranded ten.

Heller and juniors Meghan Navarro (Taunton, Mass.) and Samantha Mulcahy (Taunton, Mass.) each went 2-for-4 at the plate to pace the Bears' 11-hit attack.

In the sixth with the game deadlocked at 0-0, Navarro singled to start the rally and moved to second after a walk to Grindle. Heller followed with a base hit to load the base with nobody out. A fielder's choice grounder cut down Navarro at home, but Uschmann responded with the clutch single to plate freshman pinch runner Michaela Nista (Halifax, Mass.) with the first run of the game.

Freshman Emma Healy (Plymouth, Mass.) walked to open the seventh. After a sacrifice bunt, Navarro singled and Grindle drove a 1-0 pitch over the left-centerfield fence to give the Bears a 4-0 advantage. Heller made it back-to-back home runs (also to left-center) to extend the lead to 5-0.

Junior Julia Ferris (Falls Church, Va.) suffered the loss in the circle for Coast Guard (1-2). Ferris (1-1) allowed five runs on nine hits with three walks and four strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings of work. She kept BSU off the board for the first five inning before running into trouble in the sixth and seventh.

Sophomore Charlee Kraiss (Lake Havasu City, Ariz.) went 3-for-4 to highlight the Coast Guard offense. Kraiss doubled and scored on and RBI groundout in the bottom of the seventh to break up Sorrenti's shutout bid.

Game Two

Junior Amanda Osterhus (Munster, Ind.) tossed a complete game three-hitter to lead Carroll (6-3) to the 2-1 victory in eight innings. Osterhus (5-1) allowed just one unearned run, walked two and fanned ten as she outdueled a pair of BSU hurlers.

Freshman Kelley Reichert (Milford, Mass.) got the start in the circle for the Bears and pitched very well. Reichert threw five scoreless inning, scattered three hits, walked one and struck out two. Classmate Katherine Ryan (Mendon, Mass.) worked the final three inning and allowed two unearned runs on two hits and a walk.

Bridgewater took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning as the Bears took advantage of a Pioneer miscue. Mulcahy led off the frame with a bunt single and advanced all the way to third on a throwing error. Mulcahy then raced home with the first run of the game on Healy's bunt single.

The Pioneers took advantage of back-to-back errors by the Bears to knot the score at 1-1 in the top of the sixth inning.

The game would head into extra innings with the international tie-breaker in effect. With senior Maggie Erdman (Jefferson, Wisc.) on second base to start the eighth inning, senior Annika Graves (Muskego, Wisc.) moved the runner over to third with a sacrifice bunt. Freshman Sierra Grubor (Milwaukee, Wisc.) followed with an RBI single to give Carroll the 2-1 lead. Osterhus set down the Bears in order in the bottom half of the inning to secure the victory for the Pioneers.

Grubor went 2-for-4 with the game-winning RBI to highlight the Carroll offense, while Mulcahy went 2-for-3 with a run to lead the way for Bridgewater State.

Following an off day, the Bears' Florida trip will continue on Wednesday with a pair of games against the University of Scranton (1:30 PM) and SUNY Potsdam (4:00 PM).