WORCESTER, Mass. — 

The United States Coast Guard Academy softball team were victims of an afternoon sweep at the hands of New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) foes Worcester Polytechnic Institute on Saturday, April 11th, losing by scores of 5-10 and 4-1. The Engineers entered the day's action ranked 22nd in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association's Division III Poll.

The Bears move to 12-10 on the season and 6-4 in NEWMAC play, while WPI improves to 23-1 overall and 9-1 against league opponents. The Engineers will look to keep it going on Tuesday, April 14th, in non-conference action against the University of Hartford (12-10).

Game One: Bears 5, WPI 10; Box Score

The afternoon started with a high-scoring contest. A three-run 5th inning had Coast Guard trailing by just two runs, 5-7, but the Engineers put it away in the bottom of the 6th with a three-score frame of their own.

WPI's Abby Merchant earned her 13th win to remain undefeated in her freshman campaign, striking out five along the way. For the Bears, Emma Behel (Ellicott City, Md.) was tabbed for her first loss of 2026, moving to 2-1 after pitching all six innings for the Bears.

Coast Guard saw four players record multi-hit games, led quad-captain Abriana Schmutz's (Marysville, Ohio) 3-for-3 effort with a double and a stolen base. Fellow captains Maura Murphy (Bristow, Va.) and Dana Walker (Macon, Ga.) both went 2-for-4, with each of them recording a double while Walker drove in two runs. Rounding it out was Zoey Lynn (Nokomis, Fla.), who went 2-for-3 with two RBIs.

The Engineers one-upped their guests with five multi-hit games, the best of them being Stella Kozak's 4-for-4 with a double and two stolen bases. Sandy Fairbairn and Meg Sherwood both recorded two base knocks, with Fairbairn knocking a double and picking up two RBIs and Sherwood driving in three. WPI hit five doubles and stole five bases in the opening game.

Schmutz led the game off by legging out a triple down the left field line and then scoring on a grounder to first base. The Engineers responded by pinning five on Behel, with four of the runs coming from RBI singles. Behel led the top of the 2nd off with a double down the right field line and was replaced at second by Sage Svalestad (East Hampton, Conn.), who eventually crossed the plate on a sacrifice ground out to shortstop by Lynn. 

After the next ups for both teams passed scoreless, the Bears put themselves in great position by putting runners on second and third with no outs to start the top of the 5th. Merchant seemed to be on her way towards escaping the jam by getting the next two batters out, but Walker came through with a huge double to left field. Lynn followed with an RBI single up the middle to bring Walker around and make it 5-7.

Behel kept the deficit at two runs by escaping a second and third with one out jam in the top 6th, but she wasn't as lucky in WPI's next at-bats. The Engineers got their three runs back to make it 10-5, with all three scoring on doubles, and Merchant put it away in the bottom 7th after facing four Coast Guard batters.

Game Two: Bears 1, WPI 4; Box Score

The second game saw the Bears strike first once again, scoring one in the top of the 3rd, but WPI completed the sweep by scoring four unanswered runs.

Naomi Boldebuck earned a complete game victory to improve to 8-1 on the season, sending down five batters along the way. Walker was pinned for the loss, putting her record at 8-6. She had three strikeouts and allowed two earned runs.

Boldebuck held Coast Guard to five hits, with the offensive production spread across three players. Reilly and Lynn both produced a pair of hits, with one of Lynn's going for a double. Behel went 1-for-3 and drove in the Bears' only run.

Ali Chalovich and Virginia McKinney had two hits each for WPI, with Calovich hitting a double and driving in two runs. Emma Nagy drove in two more runs during a 1-for-3 day, and Riley O'Brien also tallied a base knock to shore up the hits for the hosts.

After two scoreless innings, Behel delivered a single to left field to drive in the first run of the game. The Engineers responded in the bottom of the fourth when Nagy helped two of her teammates cross the plate with a single up the middle. Chalovich later added another with a single to center field, and then it took until the bottom 6th for Chalovich to add one more with a double to right.

Coast Guard softball will have to wit until Friday, April 17th, for their bounce back attempt at home against in-conference adversaries Emerson College (3-15, 1-6 NEWMAC). The two teams split last season's series before meeting in Boston for the NEWMAC Tournament Play-In game. The Bears won it with a 7-0 effort, thanks in part to a playoff gem by Walker.