MIDDLETOWN, Conn. —
The United States Coast Guard Academy softball team was swept in non-conference doubleheader action by Wesleyan University on Tuesday, March 31st, falling by scores of 2-4 and 0-3. The Bears were held to four hits in the first game but had six in game two, which also saw them strike out nine times.
Coast Guard drops to 8-6 on the season, while the Cardinals improve to 11-8. Wesleyan will play again on Saturday, April 4th, when they travel to Amherst College (6-8) for a New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) doubleheader.
Game 1: Bears 2, Wesleyan 4; Box Score
Coast Guard was held to four hits in the opening contest, with sophomore outfielder
Hayden Reilly (Prosper, Tex.) reaching base the most with a hit and a walk in two at-bats while junior captain
Abriana Schmutz (Marysville, Ohio) recorded a hit and an RBI. The other dugout tallied nine base knocks, led by
Kelly Baker going 2-for-3 with two RBIs.
Freshman right-hander
Zoey Lynn (Nokomis, Fla.) dropped to 2-2 on the season after allowing three runs (two earned) over 2.1 innings pitched. Senior righty
Emma Behel (Ellicott City, Md.) relieved in the bottom of the third and posted 2.2 scoreless innings. Cardinal thrower
Ella DeCrescenzo pitched a complete game with no earned runs.
Wesleyan opened the scoring in the bottom of the 2nd when
Rebecca Cassel-Siskind laced a two-out triple to right center to drive in a runner from first base. The Bears responded almost immediately in the top 3rd with help from the Cardinal infield. With sophomore outfielder
Zoey Cascio (Burke, Va.) on first following a leadoff walk, classmate and catcher
Madeline Kibler (Effingham, Ill.) laid down a sacrifice bunt and reached on a throwing error by the third baseman. Cascio advanced to third on the error, but the catcher was standing in the basepath and moved backwards, unaware of Cascio rounding third.
The two players made contact, and Cascio was allowed to score on an obstruction call while Kibler advanced to second amid the chaos. She came around on the very next play on a single by Schmutz. The Cardinals regained their lead in the bottom half after Baker brought in two on a bases-loaded single. It remained a one-run game until the bottom of the 6th, when Wesleyan got some insurance on an RBI single by
Jordynn Killion.
Game 2: Bears 0, Wesleyan 3; Box Score
Coast Guard fell victim to a shutout in game two, but recorded six hits on the way, with Schmutz going 2-for-3 and Kibler getting a base knock and drawing a walk. The Cardinals had five hits from five different batters, but
Nicole Celi had two RBIs as part of her 1-for-2 showing. Senior captain
Dana Walker (Macon, Ga.) dropped to 5-3 after pitching all six innings and striking out five, while
Whitney Gigante improved to 4-1 with a nine-strikeout complete game shutout.
The Bears threatened early by getting runners to first and third with two outs in the opening inning, but they were unable to make anything of it. The 2nd frame saw Kibler get on via two-out single and then advance to second on a passed ball, but she was stranded after a big strikeout for Gigante. The bottom of the second saw Wesleyan in a similar situation with runners on second and third and two down, but Celi came through to plate two with a single to center field. Cassel-Siskind added insurance in the bottom 4th with an RBI single, and Gigante shut the door from there on.
Coast Guard will look to bounce back on Friday, April 3rd, when they head to Wellesley College (6-5, 0-2) for a twinbill and return to New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action. The teams split last year's meeting in New London with the Blue winning game one, 5-1, and the Bears taking game two, 2-0.
