Softball Posts 1-0 Shutout of Elms, Falls to Milwaukee Engineering

CAPE CORAL, Fla. – Senior righthander Amber White (Middleboro, Mass.) tossed a complete game, three-hit shutout to lead the Bridgewater State University softball team to a 1-0 victory over Elms College on Sunday at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic.  Earlier in day, the Bears dropped a 4-3 decision in eight innings to Milwaukee School of Engineering.

With the split of the two games, Bridgewater is now 2-2 on the season.

Bridgewater State 1, Elms 0

 White (2-0) fanned six batters and did not issue a walk as she recorded her first shutout of the season.  After a one-out error in the first, White retired 14 of the next 15 batters she faced and 18 of the next 20.

The only run of the game came as a result of an Elms' miscue in the second inning.   Freshman Tara McCann (Fall River, Mass.) reached on an error with one out and moved to second on a Jennifer Galavotti (Marion, Mass.) base hit.  After a walk to senior Jill Welch (Hubbardston, Mass.) loaded the bases, freshman Kelly McCarthy (Burlington, Mass.) plated McCann on a ground ball to short.

Senior Beth Grimes (Terryville, Ct.) pitched well in the setback for Elms.  Grimes (0-2) allowed just the one unearned run on four hits.  She walked two and fanned five.

White singled and walked in four plate appearances to lead the Bears' offense. She was also busy in the field recording five assists and a putout.  With her six strikeouts, White tied Katie Tauber (2003-06) for seventh place on the Bears' all-time strikeout list.

Milwaukee School of Engineering 4, Bridgewater State 3 (8 inn.)

In Bridgewater's first game of the day against Milwaukee School of Engineering, the Bears struck for an unearned run in the bottom of the first inning to take the early 1-0 advantage.

BSU freshman starter Kathleen Bailey (Bayport, N.Y.) kept Milwaukee in check for the first three innings as she retired ten of the first 11 batters she faced.  Bailey, however, ran into trouble in the fourth when the Raiders pushed across three runs to take a 3-1 lead.

Freshman Danielle Walsh (McHenry, Ill.) drove in the first run on a sacrifice bunt that turned into a fielder's choice when senior Julie Windish (Tinley Park, Ill.) beat the throw to the plate. An error on a pickoff attempt allowed another run to score and Walsh came around on an RBI single by senior Alyssa Breuser (Muskego, Wis.).

The Bears bounced back, evening the score with a pair of runs in the sixth to make it 3-3. McCann, Welch and sophomore Rebecca Percuoco (Billerica, Mass.) all rapped singles in the frame with Percuoco driving in Welch with the game-tying run.

Neither team scored in the seventh as the game went to extra innings.

Raider freshman Sara McConnell (Crystal Lake, Ill.) was placed on second to start the eighth inning due to the tie-breaker rule.  McConnell, moved to third sacrifice bunt and came around the score the go ahead run on a wild pitch.

BSU freshman Kelly McCarthy (Burlington, Mass.) pitched very well in relief of Bailey despite picking up the loss in the circle.  McCarthy (0-1) gave up just a walk and a hit while striking out three in four innings of work.

Freshman Callie Wightman (Flint, Mich.) picked up the win for Milwaukee.  Wightman (2-0) allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits with a walk and six strikeouts.

Jocelyn Bettencourt (Plymouth, Mass.) led the Bears' six-hit attack as she went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles.

The Bears' Florida schedule continues on Monday morning when they take on Edgewood College at nine followed by Saint Joseph's College of Maine at 11.