NEW LONDON, Conn. —
The United States Coast Guard Academy softball team took game one but fell in game two of a doubleheader split with Emerson College on Sunday. Coast Guard came from behind for a 3-2 win in the first one, but the Lions were able to stave off a late comeback charge from their hosts to head home with a 5-3 win.
Coast Guard moves to 16-14 on the season and 10-8 in NEWMAC games, while Emerson moves to 6-10 overall and 4-12 against conference opponents. The Lions will be back in action on Friday, May 1st, when they host Salve Regina University (3-31, 0-18 NEWMAC) for their Senior Day game.
Game 1: Bears 3, Emerson 2; Box Score
Coast Guard found themselves trailing early in game one after an Emerson two-run double in the first inning, but the Bears halved their deficit in the second thanks to a pair of Emerson errors.
Maura Murphy (Bristow, Va.) opened the frame with a strikeout but reached first due to a passed ball by the catcher. She advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt in the next at-bat before rounding third to score when a throw from the catcher on a
Dana Walker (Macon, Ga.) swinging bunt was mishandled by the Lions' first base.
Coast Guard was able to overtake the visitors in the third.
Abriana Schmutz (Marysville, Ohio) led off by beating out a grounder to short, advanced to second in the next at-bat on a throwing error by the catcher, and then stole third. The basepath chaos set the table for
Hayden Reilly (Prosper, Tex.) to bring Schmutz in on a single up the middle.
Zoey Lynn (Nokomis, Fla.) made it a 3-2 game just a couple of batters later with a double down the left field line after Reilly advanced to second on another passed ball.
Walker was the Bear's starter in the circle and held it down for the remainder of the game by allowing just one base hit after the Bears gave her a lead to work with. The senior struck out six and allowed just four base hits overall while improving her record to 12-7 in her 14th compete game of the season. Despite dropping to 5-11, Emerson's
Cal Sheehan allowed just five hits, two of which were knocked by Schmutz, and struck out ten Bears.
Game 2: Bears 2, Emerson 5; Box Score
The Lions once again took a two-run lead in the first inning to open game two, but they would hold on to the lead thanks to increased offensive production. Emerson loaded the bases with no outs, and a booted slow grounder allowed the runner from second to cross after the runner from third. Coast Guard's starter in the circle
Emma Behel (Ellicott City, Md.) made it 2-1 when she grounded out to shortstop with runners on second and third, allowing
Olvia Garcia (Oxford, Conn.) to score.
The Lions added one more in the top 3rd on an RBI single to center field, but Schmutz' speed in the bottom half allowed the Bears to get the run back. The junior led off with a walk before racing around to third base on an
Ella Stolarzyk (Danville, Calif.) sac bunt. In the next at-bat, Reilly got another sac bunt attempt down and the Lions tried for the out at home, but Schmutz came flying past the catcher's tag to score.
Emerson responded with a two-run top of the fourth, scoring both runs on RBI singles. The Bears were kept quiet until the bottom of the 7th when a miscommunication between the Lions second base and center fielder allowed a Walker two-out fly ball to drop, giving Schmutz an easy path home to make it 5-3, but Emerson was able to get the final out before the Bears could do more.
Coast Guard was limited to four hits in game two, with Stolarzyk and Reilly both adding doubles to their days. Lynn allowed three hits and no walks in a shutout 2.1 innings of relief, while the Lions'
Kate Regan earned her first win of the season behind a stifling six-inning performance in the circle. Sheehan got the save to avenge her game one loss.
Coast Guard softball will look to close out their season with a bang on Saturday, Mary 2nd, when they travel for their final twinbill of 2026 at MIT (26-6, 12-4 NEWMAC). The Engineers were ranked 24th in the latest National Faastpitch Coaches Association Division III Poll. The teams split last season's meeting in New London, with the Bears bouncing back from a 0-12 game one loss to force a 10-6 winning result in game two.
