MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.  -  Coast Guard softball earned two dominant mercy-rule victories earlier today as they continued their spring break trip at the Fastpitch Dreams Spring Classic. The Bears shut out Cairn, 11-0, in five innings for their first win of the day before keeping it rolling for another five-inning, 13-1, triumph over Keystone College later on.

Coast Guard improves to 3-1; Cairn moves to 2-3 and will close out their trip to Myrtle Beach tomorrow playing Penn State Beaver (1-3) at 9 am before facing Franciscan (0-2) at 11 am; Keystone will head home at 1-7 as they look to turn their luck around with a non-conference doubleheader at Marywood (2-4).

GAME 1 vs. CAIRN
Mack Murnane (Wilmington, N.C.) put the Bears on the board first by drawing a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the first, but that was all they would get in the frame as Cairn's pitcher was able to sneak out of the situation. The Highlanders' hurler wasn't as lucky in the second inning as Hayden Reilly (Prosper, Tex.) scored from third base on team co-captain Natalie Beck's (Billings, Mont.) two-out infield single. Freshman Lauren Ragonese (Liverpool, N.Y.) followed that up with a single down the line to drive in Beck from second and Abriana Schmutz (Haversville, Ohio) from third to double the Bears run total to four.

Coast Guard was blanked in the bottom third but would continue their production with a seven-run offensive explosion in the fourth. Maura Murphy (Bristow, Va.) was able to start it by driving in Beck and Ragonese with a single down the left field line to make it 6-0; Murnane followed with a long double to left field to bring around Murphy before she crossed the plate herself after a routine ground ball by Maddie Long (Raleigh, N.C.) was muffed by Cairn's shortstop. Reilly later stepped up and sent one back up the middle to bring in Long, making it a 9-0 game. Schmutz put the last two of the game on the board with a double to the right field gap, which brought in Bridget Bartz (Arlington, Va.) on its own but saw Reilly come around after the Highlanders right field bobbled it on the exchange.

Bears pitcher Dana Walker (Macon, Ga.) struck out two of the three batters she faced in the top of the fifth to clinch the mercy-rule win. The junior was just short of untouchable in the outing, giving up one base knock and a walk while striking out 12 Highlanders to earn her second win in as many games to start the season. Five Coast Guard hitters tallied multiple hits, with Reilly and Schmutz leading the pack with three each while the latter was one of four players on the team to drive in multiple runs.

GAME 2 vs. KEYSTONE
Walker was in the circle again after her dominant showing during the previous couple of hours, but things didn't start as smoothly. The Giants were able to tack one on after loading the bases and eliciting a walk from Coast Guard's top arm, but Walker would regain control and get a strike out and a ground out from the next two batters to get out of the inning.

The Bears put together another overpowering offensive display in the bottom second en route to taking the lead. A bases-loaded groundout to third base by team co-captain Veronica Krystofik (Colchester, Conn.) tied the game by allowing Murphy to score from third base. Reilly then cleared the bases with a single up the middle to bring in Madeline Kibler (Effingham, Ill.) and Olivia Garcia (Oxford, Conn.) and give Coast Guard a 3-1 lead. Reilly later crossed the plate on a single to right-center by Beck, which also brought around Schmutz after the latter took advantage of a mistake by Keystone's right fielder. Beck scored as well to make it 6-0 thanks to Ragonese following up with a single to left-center. The freshman ended up being the last run of the inning for Coast Guard after coming around on a pinch-hit single down the left-field line by Elyssia Reyna (San Antonio, Tex.).

The Bears extended their lead to 10-0 in the bottom of the third on a three-hit succession. Reilly drove in Kibler for the first with a single through the left side, followed by Schmutz driving in Krystofik on an unassisted groundout to first base, and then Reilly scoring on a double down the left field line by Beck. Three more were added to Coast Guard's portion of the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth, the first of which came from Emma Behel's (Ellicott City, Md.) single down the left field line to drive in Kibler. Behel scored on the next play after a routine ground ball by Reilly got past the first baseman on the would-be putout. Schmutz brought in Reilly for the final run of the game on a ground out to third base.

After escaping the first inning, Walker was once again hard to figure out. She finished the game with two hits allowed, two walks, and an earned run with five strikeouts in as many innings pitched. Coast Guard had just three players with multiple hits this time, but ten different players reached base via contact in the contest.

Bears softball will close out their spring break trip tomorrow with a pair of morning games, taking on SUNY Morrisville (1-1) at 9 am and Mitchell College (3-1) at 11 am.