Softball Splits Pair of Games at The Spring Games

CLERMONT, Fla. – The Bridgewater State University softball team split a pair of contests at The Spring Games in Clermont, Florida. The Bears dropped a 4-0 decision to Alfred University, but bounced back with a 6-5 walk-off win over Plymouth State University.

Game One: Alfred 4, Bridgewater State 0

Jillian Murray (Eden, N.Y.) and Arden Hatch (Orangevale, Calif.) combined on the five-hit shutout for the Saxons (3-2). Murray allowed just two hits over the first five innings to pick up her first win of the season. She walked two and struck out six. Hatch gave up three hits and fanned two in two innings of work.

An RBI single by Elena Ceja (Redondo Beach, Calif.) got the Saxons on the board in the bottom of the first inning. Tatiana Mejia (North Hills, Calif.) tripled home a pair of runs and scored on Murray's RBI ground out in a three-run third inning to cap off the scoring.

Laura Hatch (Middleboro, Mass.) allowed a run on three hits over the first two innings in the setback for the Bears. Hatch (1-1) walked one, hit a batter and fanned one. Kelley Reichert (Milford, Mass.) worked four innings in relief and gave up three runs on five hits with three strikeouts.

Emma Healy (Plymouth, Mass.) went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles to highlight the BSU offense.

Game Two: Bridgewater State 6, Plymouth State 5

The Bears trailed 5-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning when they rallied for four runs to win the game in dramatic walk-off fashion.

Samantha Mulcahy (Taunton, Mass.) led off the seventh with a walk and, one out later, stole second. Back-to-back base hits by Alexandra Taylor (Hebron, Conn.) and Megan Sharon (East Longmeadow, Mass.) brought home Mulcahy to cut the deficit to 5-3. Courtney Gouveia (Taunton, Mass.) followed with another ringing single to load the bases. After a strikeout, Madison Dana (Lynn, Mass.) came up with the clutch, game-tying two-run single to plate Sharon and pinch runner Kim Scanlon (Medford, Mass.). Alexandra Ruprecht (Kingston, Mass.) then hit a soft liner over the second base bag to score Gouveia with the walk-off run.

Reichert (1-1) picked up the win in the complete game effort for the Bears as she allowed five runs (four earned) on ten hits with a walk and a strikeout.

Bridgewater jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the game. Healy singled and came around to score on Sharon's RBI double in the bottom of the first. In the third, Mulcahy reached on an infield hit, advanced to third on a two-base throwing error and scored on Healy's RBI single.

Plymouth pushed across three runs in the top of the fourth to jump in front, 3-2. Jen Landers (Berlin, N.H.) drove in a run with an RBI single, while Rylee MacMillan (Groton, Conn.) added an RBI double in the frame.

The Panthers tacked on a run in the fifth on Picard's RBI single, and added an unearned run in the sixth on a dropped fly ball to make it a 5-2 game.

Sam McCann (Berlin, N.H.) worked the first six innings in the circle for Plymouth State, but did not factor in the decision. McCann gave up three runs (two earned) on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Caitlyn Miller (Lee, N.H.) was tagged with the loss in relief. Miller (4-1) allowed three runs on five hits with a pair of strikeouts in 2/3 of an inning.

Sharon went 3-for-4 with a double, a run and two RBI to pace the BSU offense. Gouveia (3-4, R) also finished with three hits for the Bears, while Healy (2-4, R, RBI) and Ruprecht (2-4, R) rapped two hits apiece. Mulcahy reached safely three times in four plate appearances with a hit and two walks. She also stole a base and scored two runs.

The Bears (2-2) are back in action at The Spring Games when they take on Cornell College (9:15 AM) and Roger Williams University (11:30 AM) on Wednesday morning.