Softball Downs Rockford, 3-0; Falls To Kenyon, 3-2

CAPE CORAL, Fla. – The Elms College softball team earned a split in Tuesday's Gene Cusic Classic action following a 3-0 win over Rockford College and a 3-2 loss to Kenyon College in Cape Coral, Fla.

With the split, Elms moves to 2-4 on the season.

Elms 3, Rockford 0

In the Blazers' opener, Elms scored twice in the bottom of the first inning as senior right fielder Alison McBride (East Providence, R.I.) connected for a one-out single up the middle, advanced to third on back-to-back wild pitches and then scored when sophomore third baseman Rachel Butt (Agawam, Mass.) poked a sacrifice bunt down the left field line. Butt raced to second on the play following a Rockford throwing error. Sophomore catcher Sarah Buckley (Wilbraham, Mass.) singled to left and then advanced to second when Butt moved over to third and then scored on a fielding miscue by the Regents, giving Elms a 2-0 lead.

The Blazers added to their lead in the bottom of the fourth when freshman first baseman Allyson Witaszek (Feeding Hills, Mass.) reached on an error, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore center fielder Leah Spring (South Hadley, Mass.) and then scampered to third on a wild pitch. From there, a groundout by junior shortstop Jenna Lipscomb (Cambridge, Mass.) allowed Witaszek to cross the plate with Elms' third run of the contest.

Elms' senior right-handed pitcher Destinee Meeker (Bantam, Conn.) earned her first win of the season, pitching a seven-inning complete-game shutout to move to 1-2 on the season. Meeker scattered four hits and struck out one in the winning effort.

Meeker and Buckley each went 2 for 3 at the plate to help seal the win.

Kenyon 3, Elms 2

In the bottom of the first in game two, Lipscomb singled, advanced to second on a walk by McBride and then scored on a base hit by Butt, giving Elms a 1-0 lead. Buckley then drew a walk to load the bases and a sacrifice fly by sophomore second baseman Alexandra Bonavita (Agawam, Mass.) gave the Blazers a 2-0 lead before a strikeout and a groundout got Kenyon out of the early jam.

From there, Elms was held scoreless as Kenyon plated two runs in the third to tie the game and scored the game-winning run in the top of the seventh on the strength of a triple by Samantha Sims (Visalia, Calif.) and an RBI single by Jamie Samuel (Malibu, Calif.) to give the Ladies' a 3-2 win.

Elms returns to Gene Cusic Classic action on Wednesday, March 9 when it squares off against New Jersey City University at 1:00 p.m. and Ohio Wesleyan University at 3:00 p.m.