NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — 

The United States Coast Guard Academy softball team opened their season with a win and a loss in sunny weather on Sunday. Coast Guard fell in their morning game to National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) side University of Pikeville, 3-9, before bouncing back for a 5-2 victory against Martin Luther College in the matinee.

Game 1 — Bears 3, Pikeville 9; Box Score

A two-run triple by freshman catcher Abby Steele (Decatur, Tex.) and an inside-the-park home run from Bridget Bartz (Arlington, Va.) headlined the offensive highlights for the first Bears softball game of 2026. There were no multi-hit games as seven different cadet-athletes tallied recorded a base knock and four reached via walk, with Bartz being one of them.

Pikeville posted their nine runs without recording an extra base hit. Leading the Lady Bears was Dani Crum, who went 3-for-4 with five runs batted in, while Addison Johnson was 1-for-3 with an RBI. Crum had the only multi-hit day for Pikeville, with Johnson and five other players getting a base knock. Johnson was also the only Lady Bear to work a base on balls.

Bears ace Dana Walker (Macon, Ga.) pitched all six innings in her senior debut, allowing no earned runs on nine hits with six strikeouts and a walk. Earning the win for Pikeville was Chloe Colton, who allowed three earned runs and six hits over five innings of work while striking out six and walking two.

After a scoreless first inning, Bartz started with a bang via her inside-the-parker. Pikeville scored four unanswered runs through the fourth inning before Steele's triple plated two in the top fifth to tighten the gap to 3-4. The Lady Bears responded in the bottom half by hanging five on the board, while Rylee Carter relieved Colton at the beginning of the sixth and secured the win with two innings of one-hit ball.

Game 2 — Bears 5, Martin Luther 2; Box Score

The bats were warmed up for Coast Guard as they recorded ten hits in their second game of the season. Bartz kept thumping with a 2-for-4 game with two RBIs, while senior captain Maura Murphy (Bristow, Va.) went 3-for-4 with a double and two runs. Also recording an extra bases knock was sophomore Madeline Kibler (Effingham, Ill.) as part of her 1-for-3 showing.

Kiara Humann was the offense for Martin Luther as she went 2-for-4 with a double, while five other Knights recorded a base knock. Keighton Rank pitched all seven innings for her side, giving up ten hits in total while sending down two and walking four.

Martin Luther's two runs came via errors with the Knight's largely shut down in a joint effort by Walker and freshman Zoey Lynn (Nokomis, Fla.). Walker pitched the first 2.2 innings and allowed six hits while striking out three, while Lynn dazzled the rest of the way by letting up just one earned run and one hit, striking out two, and issuing two walks.

MLC took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom first, but the top second saw sophomore outfielder Hayden Reilly (Prosper, Tex.) force a bases-loaded walk before Bartz plated two with a single through the left side. Caitlyn Gibson (Niskayuna, N.Y.) came through in the top fourth with a single down the right field line to drive in a runner from third for her first collegiate hit. Kibler added one more in the fifth with her double, and then it wasn all Lynn in the circle from there.

Bears softball will return tomorrow for more action in Myrtle Beach, slated to face Gwynedd Mercy University at 9 AM ET and Covenant at 1 PM.