Softball Drops Pair of Games to Kenyon and Swarthmore

NAPLES, Fla. – The Bridgewater State University softball team dropped its final two games at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic on Thursday in Naples, Florida.

The Bears (4-6) lost 8-6 to Kenyon College and 8-4 to Swarthmore College.

In the opener, Kenyon battled back from a 6-2 deficit to record the 8-6 victory.

Freshman pitcher Keely Sweet came on in relief with the Ladies trailing 6-2 and retired 15 of the 18 batters she faced. Sweet (3-1) tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings giving up just a hit and walk with a pair of strikeouts.

Grace Pilz capped off a four-run third inning with a game-tying two-run homer. RBI singles by Britny Patterson and Allison Stratman in the bottom of the sixth gave the Ladies the 8-6 lead.

Courtney Leddy and Shannon Grindle finished with two hits apiece to lead the BSU offense.

Leddy (2-for-3, walk) singled home a run in the first and later scored on a RBI single by Kristyna Flaherty as they Bears jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. Leddy also scored a run during BSU's four-run second inning, while Grindle (2-for-4) added an RBI single in the frame.

Kenyon finished with 11 hits in the contest to go along with three walks and a hit by pitch.

Kathleen Bailey worked three innings of relief for the Bears in the setback. Bailey came on with the score tied at 6-6 in the fourth. She allowed two runs on five hits with a walk and a strikeout over three innings.

In the second game, Swarthmore used a five-run fourth inning to overcome a 3-0 deficit as the Garnet went on to win 8-4.

A two-run double by Grindle in the first and an RBI single off the bat of Grindle in the third staked the Bears to the 3-0 lead. Grindle went 2-for-4 with three runs batted in for the game as the rookie leads the team with ten RBI.

Swarthmore sent ten batters to the plate and took advantage of two BSU errors in the game-changing fourth inning. The Garnet connected for five hits in the frame highlighted by a two-run double by Kennedy Kings as well as RBI singles by Elizabeth Curcio and Gabriella Natoli.

Bridgewater cut the deficit to 5-4 with a run in the top of the sixth on an RBI by Samantha LoPilato. Swarthmore, however, answered with three runs in the home half of the inning as Marisa Mancini smacked a bases loaded triple to right field.

Emily Bowman picked up the win in relief for the Garnet. Bowman (3-1) allowed a run on four hits over four innings with a walk and six strikeouts.

Bailey (2-4) went the distance in the circle for the Bears in the loss. She gave up eight runs (five earned) on ten hits with a walk and a pair of strikeouts.