Nazareth splits first two games in Florida
CAPE CORAL, FL. -- Nazareth opened its softball season on Sunday at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic in Florida. The Golden Flyers opened the 2015 campaign with a 5-1 victory over Minnesota-Morris before Alverno rallied to defeat Nazareth 4-3. Minnesota-Morris stands at 1-4 overall, and Alverno improved to 2-2 overall after playing the Golden Flyers.
In its game against Minnesota-Morris, Nazareth surrendered the first run in the bottom of the first inning. Alex Anderson took first with a one-out single for the Courgars' first base runner, and she eventually scored UMM's lone run. Following the first inning, senior
Nicole Bayona allowed hits in only two other innings to prevent the Cougars from additional runs.
The Golden Flyers evened the score in the second inning when junior
Cydney Luke scored. She initially reached base on a passed ball. In the third inning, Nazareth took its first lead when junior
Carly Pike scored. Pike reached base on a two-out single. Senior
Sophia Rhoades followed with a double, which was followed by a single by Luke. Before the end of the inning, the Golden Flyers loaded the bases, but the Cougars avoided a larger deficit by collecting the third out by sophomore
Meghan Barry.
Nazareth added three runs in the seventh to stretch its lead. Pike opened the inning with a walk before Rhoades, Luke, Bayona, and Barry each singled. Pike, Luke and pinch-runner
Stephanie Mongelli scored the Golden Flyers' runs.
The bottom of the seventh was one of the two innings Bayona allowed hits. The Cougars mustered three hits, but Nazareth's defense prevented any runners from crossing the plate. The Golden Flyers recorded the final two outs on a strikeout by Bayona and a ground out.
In their game against Alverno, Nazareth scored a pair of runs in the first and a third run in the third to claim an early 3-0 lead. In the first inning, junior
Maureen Rogers connected on a two-out double for the game's first base runner. Pike followed with a double to score Rogers, then Rhoades singled to left. Pike scored on the throwing error by the Inferno's left fielder.
In the third, junior
Morgan Ross took first after she was hit by a pitch, and she advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore
Emily Graham. Rogers singled to the shortstop to move Ross to third, and Ross scored moments later on a sacrifice fly by Pike.
Alverno answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning to tie the score. The Inferno's Sam Kasprzak opened the inning with a walk before Alexis Botsford was hit by a pitch. Stephanie Skibba reached on a throwing error after attempting a sacrifice bunt, which scored Kasprzak. Botsford scored a few plays later on a wild pitch, and Skibba scored before the Golden Flyers collected the final out on the inning-ending double play.
The Golden Flyers were held without a hit in the final four innings by Alverno's Erin Dulek, who finished with 10 strikeouts. The Inferno scored the decisive game-winning run in the sixth inning. After Nazareth collected the first two outs, Mary Kate Sulikowski doubled down the left-field line. She advanced to third on a passed ball, and she scored on an illegal pitch.
Junior
Danae Wetherbee started and pitched 3.2 innings before sophomore
Nicole White replaced her. The two Nazareth pitchers allowed three total hits and only one earned run. Wetherbee had five walks while White had four strikeouts. White pitched the final 2.1 innings and took the loss.
The Golden Flyers resume action on Monday with a 9 a.m. contest against Dominican. Nazareth also plays Wooster at 11 a.m.