NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.  -  Coast Guard softball commenced its 2025 campaign today, as well as its spring break trip, with split decisions against PSU Harrisburg and FDU Florham. The Bears' offense hummed to an 8-1 win over the Nittany Lions in the first one of the day while benefiting from a stellar pitching performance; game two with the Devils saw the bats start slow but threaten a comeback later on before coming up short in a 4-5 result.

Coast Guard starts their season at 1-1, as does Harrisburg following their 9-0 rebound win over Brooklyn College later in the day, while Florham improves to 3-3 thanks to a 6-5 extra-innings defeat of Penn College. The Nittany Lions will take on King's College (0-0) and Immaculata (0-0) at 9 am and 11 am tomorrow, while the Devils face Mitchell College (1-1) and SUNY Morrisville (0-0) at the same respective times.

GAME 1 vs. PSU HARRISBURG
Freshman Hayden Reilly (Prosper, Tex.) started the season and her collegiate career with a single before advancing to second on a one-bagger by Abriana Schmutz (Marysville, Ohio). The scene was set for team co-captain Natalie Beck (Billings, Mont.), who placed a textbook sacrifice bunt down the third base line to advance her teammates to third and second. Freshman Lauren Ragonese (Liverpool, N.Y.) followed up and introduced herself with a single to right-center for her first hit and the first two RBIs of her collegiate career. Next up was Maura Murphy (Bristow, Va.), whose single up the middle was misplayed by Harrisburg's center fielder and turned into a two-RBI inside-the-park home run.

Coast Guard struck again in the bottom of the third. Beck was in premium scoring position after lacing one off the right field wall and hustling to third base. She was picked up by Ragonese, who singled through the right side to make it 5-0. In the bottom of the fourth, Schmutz stepped up with no outs and runners on first and second and slapped a single into right field. The runner on second scored easily, but an errant throw to the plate allowed the runner on second to come around safely and Schmutz to advance to third. The Ohioan crossed the plate soon after by taking advantage of a passed ball.

Harrisburg got on the board in the top of the fifth and finally broke through against Dana Walker (Macon, Ga.), who had held the Nittany Lyons hitless up to that point. Sierra Sims (Eilkridge, Md.) broke up the bid with a bunt before moving to second base on a sac bunt by Lillian Feltenberger (Marysville, Pa), and then Olivia Herncane (State College, Pa.) brought Sims in with a single up the middle. Harrisburg got three hits in the inning, but Walker allowed just one knock for the rest of the game as she closed out an excellent season debut.

Coast Guard had four players record multi-hit games, including a pair of two-for-three performances by Ragonese and Murphy, while Reilly was two-for-four with a double. Joining Beck in the triples column was sophomore Mack Murnane (Wilmington, N.C.), who celebrated herself becoming the first varsity volleyball-softball player at the Academy since 2010 with her three-bagger in the bottom of the fifth. Walker was in midseason form in the circle, going the distance while striking out six and walking none, while Harrisburg's Kierstyn Smith (Millersburg, Pa.) gave up an earned run and rung up three while pitching the final three innings for the Nittany Lions.

GAME 2 vs. FDU FLORHAM
In their second bout of the day, Coast Guard were the ones trailing early after Florham's Abigail Rodriguez (Woodbridge, N.J.) delivered an RBI double in the first inning to give her team a 1-0 lead. The Devils extended it in a big way in the top second after Jada Lambright (Clifton Park, N.Y.) hit a base-clearing double to center field to make it 4-0.

The top of the fifth saw Florham tack on one more, but that was all they got for the remainder of the battle. The comeback was on for Coast Guard in the bottom half after team co-captain Veronica Krystofik's (Colchester, Conn.) single to the outfield was mishandled by the Devils' center fielder, allowing Elyssa Reyna (San Antonio, Tex.) to score the Bears' first run of the game. Coast Guard made it a two-run game in the bottom of the fifth on a muddled-up left field single by Murnane, and then a one-run game in the same frame after freshman Madeline Kibler (Effingham, Ill.) brought Murnane around to make it 5-4.

Coast Guard shut down Florham in the top-sixth and top-seventh behind respective one-two-three innings by Reilly, who took the circle in the top of the third, and Walker, but the Bears suffered the same fate in their own final at-bats. No Coast Guard hitters recorded multiple hits, but the Bears were able to draw five walks in the matinee contest; in the other dugout, Lambright and Rodriguez each recorded two-hit games and drove in four of Florham's runs. Graduate student Erin Sinatra (Colonia, N.J.) pitched three innings of one-hit ball for the Devils while recording seven strikeouts, while Reilly went four innings for Coast Guard and gave up two hits while striking out one.

Bears softball is back at it again tomorrow in North Myrtle Beach in another pair of contests, facing Penn State Abington (0-0) at 9 am and Delaware Valley (2-0) at 1 pm.