LEESBURG, Fla.— The Allegheny College softball team opened its 2017 season with a pair of games at the Spring Games held in Florida.
The Gators fell to Carthage College in game one, 1-0, and Calvin College in game two, 5-1.
GAME ONE
Starting pitcher
Miranda Arison limited the Lady Reds early on, striking out eight in the first four innings.
Sarah Rogan became the first baserunner of the year for the Gators after being hit by a pitch in the third with two outs. Rogan stole second but the inning ended before she got around to home.
In the fifth,
Megan Hazlett recorded the first hit for the Gators, singling on a shallow fly to left field. However, the Lady Reds got out of the inning to keep the game scoreless.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Lady Reds took advantage of a pair of Gator errors to score the first run of the game.
Jessica Valerino led off the top of the seventh with a single down the left field line.
Samantha Valera came in to pinch run for Valerino and reach second on a sac bunt by
Taylor Massart. However, the Gators were unable to bring her around as they fell 1-0 in the opening game.
Arison finished the game with nine strikeouts, allowing just three hits and no earned runs.
GAME TWO
Calvin opened the game with a homerun to left center, and added one more later in the first. The Gators responded with a run in the bottom of the frame.
Paige Blinkiewicz led off for the Gators by reaching first on a strike three wild pitch. After bunts by
Jessica Gordon and Valerino, Blinkiewicz reached home on a nifty infield single by
Jessica Zavolta, cutting the lead in half.
The game stalemated until the fifth inning when Calvin brought one more across to increase the advantage to 3-1.
Valera led off the bottom of the frame with a double down the right field line. With two outs, Valera rounded third after a Blinkiewicz single to left field but was thrown out at the plate.
After a scoreless sixth, the Knights plated a pair of runs in the seventh to bring the lead to 5-1. In the bottom of the frame, the Gators were unable to overcome deficit as they fell 5-1.
Zavolta had a hit and a RBI to lead the Gators. Blinkiewicz had a hit and a run while Gordon and Valera also tallied hits.
Allison Cabo got the start on the mound. She allowed two runs on five hits while fanning four.
The Gators are back in action Sunday (March 19) against Union College and Babson College.
