WATERFORD, Conn. — 

The United States Coast Guard Academy softball team opened their New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) schedule on Saturday, March 28th, with a doubleheader sweep of Clark University. The Bears scored eight unanswered runs to take the first game, 8-5, before walking off game two for a 4-3 win.

Coast Guard improves to 8-4 on the season and starts their NEWMAC slate at 2-0, while the Cougars drop to 9-6 overall and open league play at 0-2. Clark will look to bounce back on Tuesday, March 31st, when they head across town for a doubleheader at Woo-town rivals Worcester State University (4-8).

Game 1 — Bears 8, Clark 5; Box Score

Freshman first baseman Ella Stolarzyk (Danville, Calif.) had the big bat in game one, going 3-for-4 with a double and driving in three runs. Junior captain Abriana Schmutz (Marysville, Ohio) was 2-for-3 with a stolen base and crossed the plate twice. The Cougars saw four players record multiple hits, with Alexis Taudel and Megan Dube both knocking doubles as part of their two-hit games.

Dube was pinned for the loss, moving to 3-4 on the season. She allowed eight runs (five earned), ten hits, and two walks but struck out eight. Bears senior right-hander Emma Behel (Ellicott City, Md.) earned her first win and decision of the season after throwing 3.1 innings of shutout softball, allowing three hits and striking out one in the process. Senior captain Dana Walker (Macon, Ga.) picked up a multi-inning save with a scoreless 1.2 frames, allowing a hit and a walk and striking out three.

After Clark jumped out to 5-0 lead with a three-run second inning and two-run third, freshman outfielder Caitlynn Gibson (Niskayuna, N.Y.) got her team on the board with a bang by bashing her first collegiate home run. The round-tripper opened the floodgates for the Bears, who scored three more runs before the end of the inning. Senior captain Maura Murphy (Bistow, Va.) followed Gibson a couple of batters later with a RBI double down the left field line, and Behel punctuated the rally by hustling out an RBI triple to left center.

Stolarzyk gave the Bears the lead in the bottom of the fourth by lacing a single up the middle to plate two. The top of the sixth saw Walker face some adversity when Clark loaded the bases with two outs, but the righty rolled a grounder to fellow senior second baseman Bridget Bartz (Arlington, Va.) to get out of the jam. Stolarzyk brought one more around in the sixth with her double left center.

Game 2 — Bears 4, Clark 3; Box Score

Schmutz went 3-for-4 with an RBI from the lead-off spot to lead the Bears in game two, while Walker recorded the team's other multi-hit effort with a 2-for-3 showing at the plate. She also recorded a complete game in the circle while allowing no earned runs and striking out five to improve to 5-2. Felicia Salvati recorded a third of Clark's hits with a two-knock game, while Brooke Buzzeo dropped to 5-2 on the season after allowing eight hits, a walk, and just one earned run while striking out three.

The Cougars once again took the first lead of the game, taking a 1-0 advantage in the first inning after a runner scored on an error, but Coast Guard overtook their guests in the bottom half of the second with a three-run frame. Schmutz stepped up with the bases loaded and pushed a liner down the left field line, but a mishandle by the Clark outfielder allowed the bases to clear and the junior to end up at third.

The Cougars tied it back up in the top of the sixth. They got two runners on via back-to-back errors by the Bears infield before an infield single by Salvati loaded the bases. After Walker sent the next batter down swinging, Clark notched back-to-back singles to knot it at three. Walker got out of the jam with a ground out to third.

After both teams went scoreless in their next at-bats, the Bears set the table in the bottom seventh with freshman Abby Steele (Decatur, Tex.) reached on a hit-by-pitch and Walker advanced her to second with a single down the left field line. Schmutz followed with a single down the left field line, and another error by the Clark left fielder allowed Steele to score the winning run.

Bears softball will be back in action on Tuesday, March 31st, in non-conference action against Wesleyan University (7-8). The Cardinals swept last season's doubleheader in New London by scores of 6-3 and 7-4.