Softball Sweeps Pair of Games at Fastpitch Dreams Spring Classic

By Jim Fenton

LITTLE RIVER, S.C. -- The Bridgewater State University softball team picked up its second doubleheader sweep of the week Thursday at the Fastpitch Dreams Spring Classic.

The Bears defeated Penn State Beaver University, 8-0, in a game halted in the fifth inning by the mercy rule.

BSU then used a two-run double in the bottom of the sixth by sophomore Aubrey Carberry (North Dartmouth, Mass.) to get past Thiel College of Greenville, Pa., 5-3.

The Bears had 24 hits in the two games with junior Makayla Ansell (Menifee, Calif.) going 5-for-7 with three RBI in the doubleheader.

The Bears, winners of three straight games, improved to 5-3 and conclude the trip on Friday with another twinbill.

BSU will go against Penn State Altoona at 11 a.m. and finish with Valley Forge at 1 p.m.

Game: Bridgewater State 8, Penn State Beaver 0 (5)

Senior Olyvia Mendonca (Taunton, Mass.) allowed three hits with two strikeouts and no walks for a win in her first decision of the season.

The top three hitters in the lineup combined for six hits and six RBI as BSU had 11 hits in the five innings.

Ansell went 2-for-2 with three RBI, junior Sydney Schaefer (Swarthmore, Pa.) was 2-for-3 with two RBI and leadoff batter Angelina Lynch (Taunton, Mass.), a senior, was 2-for-3 with one RBI.

The Bears took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first as Ansell drove in two runs with a single after hits by Lynch and Schaefer and a groundout scored Ansell.

The lead went to 4-0 in the third with Lynch drawing a bases-loaded walk, senior Emily Eastman (Cranston, R.I.) scored on a wild pitch after drawing a walk and Schaefer singled home two runs.

The game ended in the fifth on a run-scoring single through the left side by Ansell after senior Ella Staffier (Marshfield, Mass.) had bunted for a hit and stole two bases.

Mendonca gave up a second-inning single to sophomore Reza Benson (Sunbury, Ohio), but a double play followed.

In the third, Penn State Beaver (2-4) had singles from sophomore Reese Riordan (Caldwell, Idaho) and freshman Mia Gomez (South Beliot, Ill.) but after they both were in scoring position, Mendonca retired the next two hitters.

Game Two: Bridgewater State 5, Thiel 3

Carberry was 3-for-3 with the two RBI, Ansell went 3-for-4 and Schaefer had two hits to lead BSU, which had 13 hits.

Junior Lily Gioiosa (North Dartmouth, Mass.) improved to 2-0, allowing a run and four hits with two strikeouts in two innings of relief.

After holding a 3-0 lead, the Bears allowed single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to the Tomcats (5-3).

BSU broke the tie in the bottom of the sixth with a pair of runs.

Sophomore Arihana Mercado (South Grafton, Mass.) walked, and with two outs, pinch runner Sarah Silvia (East Bridgewater, Mass.), a sophomore, went to second on a single by Ansell.

Carberry then doubled to left-center for the two runs that put the Bears in front for good.

BSU took a 3-0 lead in the third, loading the bases with hits from Schaefer and Ansell and with Carberry getting hit by a pitch.

A fielder's choice by junior Lily Gagnon (East Haven, Conn.) resulted in two unearned runs scoring as Ansell came home on a throw and Schaefer scored on an error.

Silvia made it 3-0 with a two-out single through the right side.

Thiel got one run back in the fourth on an RBI single to center by freshman Madison Hufford (Cortland, Ohio), then added an unearned run in the fifth and tied it in the sixth on an RBI single by sophomore Ava Gilmore (West Middlesex, Pa.).

Junior Olivia Hargreaves (Weare, N.H.) started for BSU, allowing two runs, one earned, and five hits while striking out six in five innings.