Softball Splits Non-Conference Twinbill with Curry

MILTON, Mass. -- The visiting Bridgewater State University softball team split a non-conference doubleheader with Curry College on Thursday afternoon.

The host Colonels (15-17) won the first game, 2-1, while the Bears (10-18) earned the split with a 3-0 victory in the nightcap.

In game two, BSU senior right-hander Kathleen Bailey (Bayport, N.Y.) tossed a complete game shutout, her first of the season, to lead the Bears to the 3-0 win. Bailey scattered five hits, walked one and struck out three.

Bridgewater broke open a scoreless tie with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth inning. Senior Breanna Shaffer (Plainville, Mass.) singled to open the inning and came all the way around to score as the Colonels committed a pair of outfield errors on the play.

A base hit by junior Kacie Carvalho (Fairhaven, Mass.) followed by a double off the bat of senior Courtney Leddy (Saugus, Mass.) put runners on second and third. Freshman Shannon Grindle (Halifax, Mass.) then plated Carvalho with a sacrifice fly to give the Bears the 2-0 lead.

The visitors tacked on a run in the seventh as sophomore pinch hitter Courtney Gouveia (Taunton, Mass.) and senior Samantha LoPilato (Medford, Mass.) rapped back-to-back singles to put two runners on with one out. After a ground out advanced the runners to second and third, Carvalho reached on an infield single to bring home Gouveia with the Bears' third run of the game.

Carvalho went 4-for-4 at the plate with a run and an RBI to highlights the BSU offense in game two.

In the opener, Curry junior right-hander Rebecca Black (East Greenwich, R.I.) outdueled BSU sophomore left-hander Mackenzie Holt (Gilroy, Calif.) as the Colonels came away with the 2-1 win.

Black (5-4) tossed a complete game allowing just one unearned run on six hits with a walk and a pair of strikeouts.

Holt (1-6) also went the distance in the circle as she gave up two runs (one earned) on six hits over six innings with a walk and four strikeouts.

Junior Rachel Byrd (Hampstead, N.H.) belted a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to provide a key insurance run and give the hosts a 2-0 lead.

That run would come into play as the Bears rallied for an unearned run in the seventh on Gouveia's two-out RBI single to cut the deficit to 2-1. Senior Morgan Cox (Dennis Port, Mass.), who singled and advanced to second on an outfield error to open the inning, scored on Gouveia's base knock. Gouveia, however, was stranded at first as Black induced a harmless fly out to center to end the game.

Byrd finished 2-for-3 at the played in the opener, while senior Marissa Bruno (Milford, Conn.) went 2-for-2 with a walk and a run scored.

Shaffer was the only Bear to record multiple hits in game one as she went 2-for-4.

Both teams are in action with conference doubleheaders on Saturday afternoon at one. The Bears host Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) foe MCLA, while the Colonels entertain Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) rival Salve Regina University.