Softball Falls to University of Pittsburg-Bradford, Bridgewater State University

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Elms College softball team fell to the University of Pittsburg-Bradford, 8-1 in game one and lost to Bridgewater State University, 1-0 in game two during Sunday's Gene Cusic Classic softball action in Fort Myers, Fla.

With the losses, Elms moves to 0-4 overall.

In the opening contest, Elms' junior second baseman Gina DiGiovanni (Springfield, Mass.) went 2 for 3 with a stolen base and an RBI, while sophomore shortstop Kierstan Skinner (Windsor, Mass.) ripped a triple and was 1 for 3 with a run scored.

Senior Beth Grimes (Terryville, Conn.) added a double, while junior pitcher Jessica Colson (Agawam, Mass.) struck out eight batters in 4.2 innings of work in the circle despite the loss.

Colson allowed seven runs (six earned) on nine hits and walked two and is 0-2 on the season.

The Blazers plated the first run of the game in the top of the third when Kierstan Skinner laced a two-out three-bagger right center field and then came full circle on an RBI single to right center by DiGiovanni to give Elms a 1-0 lead.

Pitt-Bradford answered with two runs in the bottom of the fourth and broke the game open with five runs in the bottom of the fifth frame before closing out the game with one tally in the bottom of the sixth.

Against Bridgewater State, Grimes was stellar in defeat in the circle allowing one unearned run in the top of the second inning and gave up just four hits in seven innings of work. She struck out five and walked just two batters but suffered the loss to move to 0-2 on the season.

Elms' senior third baseman Caitlee Carrier (Charlestown, Mass.) was 2 for 2 in the losing effort as the Blazers were limited to just three hits in the tightly-fought contest.

Elms returns to Gene Cusic Classic action on Tuesday, March 11 when it takes on Wentworth Institute of Technology at 9:00 a.m. and Nazareth College at 11:00 a.m.