NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — 

The United States Coast Guard Academy softball team punctuated their spring break trip to Myrtle Beach with a triumphant 3-2 victory over Penn State Harrisburg and a lopsided 17-2 defeat of Penn State Scranton. It was a great day to be junior captain Mack Murnane (Castle Hayne, S.C.), who was 4-for-6 with three doubles, and inside-the-park home run, and five runs batted in between both contests.

Game 1: Bears 3, PSU Harrisburg 2; Box Score

Murnane drove in all three of the Bears' runs during their first game of the day while going 1-for-2 with a double. Fellow junior captain Abriana Schmutz (Marysville, Ohio) was 2-for-2, while freshman first base Ella Stolarzyk (Danville, Calif.) picked up the only other Bears hit with a double. Harrisburg was also limited to just four base knocks with Madison Minney leading the way with a 2-for-2 day. Emily Cutman and Fallon McFadden joined their teammate in the hits column with a pair of 1-for-3 days, while Cutman tallied an RBI.

It was a pitcher's dual in the circle between Coast Guard senior captain Dana Walker (Macon, Ga.) and the Nittany Lions' Kylee Miller, as both hurlers pitched the whole game for their squads. The cadet ace was superb once again with six strikeouts and two walks while outlasting Miller, who allowed a walk and a strikeout while keeping the Bears off of the basepaths.

After three scoreless innings, the Bears struck first on a Murnane sacrifice fly to drive a runner in from third, but Harrisburg did them one better in the top of the fifth by taking a 2-1 lead.  Both pitchers dealt 1-2-3 innings in the bottom 5th and top 6th, but the Bears were able to break through in their next ups. With runners on first and second following a Schmutz two-out single, Murnane played hero by walloping one to left center for a bases-clearing double. Walker sealed the win in the seventh with a pair of strikeouts and a ground out.

Game 2: Bears 17, PSU Scranton 2; Box Score

Coast Guard's second game of the day was much less intense as they used a ten-run top of the sixth to take their final game of the week. Ten cadet-athletes picked up RBIs, and Murnane was one of five to drive in two. She led the way with two doubles and an inside-the-park home run for a 3-for-4 day. Stolarzyk was 2-for-5 with a double, senior captain Maura Murphy (Bristow, Va.) was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a triple, and freshman utility Caitlynn Gibson (Niskayuna, N.Y.) was 2-for-3 with an RBI off the bench.

Scranton's lineup featured a pair of 2-for-3 days from Emily Moyles and Maddie Kelsch, while Vanessa Hodges also recorded a hit. Coast Guard had freshman right-hander Zoey Lynn (Nokomis, Fla.) pitch the whole game, and she recorded a career-high five strikeouts while improving to 2-0.

Coast Guard jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning behind Murnane's inside-the-parker, and they'd double it behind RBI singles from Abby Steele (Decatur, Tex.) in the second and Zoey Cascio (Burke, Va.) in the third. Scranton got one on the board in the bottom 3rd thanks to a Kelsch bases-loaded single to center field, but Coast Guard was able to extend their lead to 7-1 on a 2-RBI double by Stolarzyk in the fourth and a sac fly by freshman infielder Ainsley Holobob (Yaphank, N.Y.) in the fifth.

The Bears opened the floodgates in the sixth inning by crossing the plate ten times, recording eight of their 21 hits in the process. Scranton got one back int he bottom half after an infield error by the Bears allowed a runner to score from second base.

Bears softball heads home with a record of 6-2. They are slated to take on Roger Williams University (4-5) in their next one on Wednesday, March 18th.