Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | Box Score 3 | Box Score 4
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.—Gordon softball won their final two games of an eight-game spring break trip to South Carolina to head into their home schedule on a high note. The Scots' tough schedule in Myrtle Beach included two scholarshipped teams from the Division II and NAIA ranks, while also facing tough Division III schools Swarthmore and Penn State-Harrisburg.
 
The Scots are hopeful their early season challenges will translate to great results once the team begins the conference schedule on Monday against Curry.
 
Gordon struggled to find the bat in their season opener against Penn College. The Wildcats also had a slow start, but crossed the plate seven times in the fourth and fifth innings to beat the Scots 8-0 in five innings. Monday's second game wasn't any kinder to the Scots when they faced the Lions of PSU-Harrisburg. The Lions jumped out to a 10-0 lead after three innings, which was the final tally after five innings of play.
 
Tuesday's first game versus Swarthmore yielded some runs on the board, as Player of the Week, Rachel Ryder (Telford, Pa.) got the game off to an exciting with a triple. Two batters later, Skylar Bareford (Stonington, Conn.) knocked a pitch through the infield to plate Ryder from third and gave the Scots a 1-0 lead. The Garnets answered in the bottom half of the inning with two extra-base hits and three runs.
 
The Scots were able to cut it to 3-2 in the top of the third when Ryder stole third base before advancing home on the throw. The Garnets found their stride in the bottom of the fourth, scoring eight runs in the inning to win 12-2 in five innings.
 
Gordon rebounded from the tough early start with a great showing against SUNYIT in the fourth game of the tournament. The Wildcats jumped out to the early 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a trio of RBI knocks, but Gordon was unfazed by the hole. Kendall Bukuras (North Falmouth, Mass.) chipped one off the deficit with an RBI single in the top of the second inning. Bukuras struck again in the fourth with a sacrifice fly to score Kara Pepper (Wyckoff, N.J.) for the second time of the game.
 
The Wildcats added to their lead in the bottom of the fourth inning with three more runs tacked on the scoreboard. Gordon loaded the bases in the next half inning to threaten the Wildcats' comfortable five-run lead. Bareford grounded out to first base to score a run, leaving runners on second and third. Pepper got on base for the third time in the game with an RBI-single on a bunt. A passed ball scored the third run of the inning and gave the Scots momentum heading into the final two innings.
 
Pepper was at the forefront of the rally once again in the top of the seventh inning when she reached on a fielder's choice, which scored Marissa Meenan (Wayne, Pa.) from third. Stephanie Zaloom (Albany, N.Y.) tripled as the next batter, plating Pepper and tying the game at seven runs apiece.
 
Gordon looked to send the game to extra innings for the first time on their trip, but the Wildcats received a one-out single to score a run in the bottom half of the seventh to win in walk-off fashion, 8-7.
 
Wednesday provided the toughest competition on the trip as the Scots squared off with Division II power Bemidji State and NAIA Division I squad Dakota State. The Scots held Bemidji State without a hit in the first two innings, but the Beavers broke through the dam with four runs in the third and fourth frames. The Beavers improved to 9-2 with the 8-0 win, while Gordon fell to 0-5 on their trip.
 
The second half of the day wasn't any easier for the Fighting Scots with another scholarshipped team in tow. The first two innings were chock full of runs with the Trojans leading Gordon 6-5 entering the bottom half of the second inning. However, Dakota State scored seven runs in the home half to break the game wide open and finished with a 16-5 win in five innings.
 
Thursday provided much better results for the Fighting Scots. Gordon fell behind early, 8-5, after three innings, when the Scots put on their rally caps.
 
In the top of the fifth, Bareford led off the inning with a single to right field off Arcadia reliever Sarah Falcon. The senior pitcher then stole second base before advancing to third on an errant toss by Falcon. Pepper came through in a big way once again, doubling home Bareford to creep within two runs of the Knights. Bieren lifted a bloop single to left-center to score Pepper easily from second and suddenly the Scots were back within a run.
 
Still with no outs in the inning, Bukuras sacrifice bunted to advance Bieren within 60 feet of being the tying run. The maneuver worked, as Bieren scored on the very next pitch. Falcon struggled to find her command in the inning and sent a pitch to the backstop, allowing Bieren to tie the game at eight.
 
Bareford held the Knights to a single hit in the fifth inning and the Scots received another RBI knock from Pepper in the top of the sixth to take their first lead since the first inning. Gordon's senior captain held on in the sixth and seventh innings to capture the Scots' first victory of the 2014 season, 9-8.
 
The final game of the spring break trip gave the Scots an opportunity to get revenge from their season opener. Penn Tech handed the Scots a short-inning 8-0 loss on Monday, but the Scots looked like a team on a mission in the rematch.
 
Once again the Wildcats sprinted out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning, but having learned from the morning session, the Scots had no quit despite the deficit. Bukuras and Pepper led off the second by getting on base, which set up a bases-clearing triple for Zaloom to cut the Tech lead to two. The third brought up the top of the order and Ryder immediately tripled for fourth time on the week. Bareford brought her in two batters later on a throwing error.
 
The Scots kept chipping away in the top of the fifth when Meenan became the third Gordon athlete to triple in the contest. Bareford knocked in another run on a single and later scored when Bukuras found the gap to bring Gordon all the way back at 5-4.
 
Penn Tech tied the game in the bottom of the fifth, but it was all Gordon from there. Meenan and Pepper each found holes in the infield for RBIs in the sixth inning and Alyssa Unumb (Bedford, Mass.) got her first RBI of the season with a single in the seventh.
 
Bareford went seven innings strong and picked up her second consecutive win. Ryder brought in the most hits for the week with 14, six of them going for extra bases. The junior second baseman also tied the single-season record for triples by hitting five during the opening week. Pepper, Bareford and Bukuras are tied for the team lead with six RBI after the first week of play.