WINTER GARDEN, Fla.—After splitting on day one of their spring break trip, Gordon Softball ran into two tough matchups on the second day. The Fighting Scots lost to Ursinus 12-4 in six innings in the first game before suffering a 14-4 loss to Simmons in the final contest of the day.
Gordon's two losses leave them at 1-3 through the first half of their Florida schedule and the team has a day off on Wednesday to regroup. The Fighting Scots play Thiel and Susquehanna on Thursday morning.
Game One: Gordon 4 – 12 Ursinus The Fighting Scots started the game with a bang when freshman
Megan Jenkerson (McDonough, Ga.) hit a triple in the first at bat of the game. The utility player scored on play later when
Kaelie Mercado (Granada Hills, Calif.) hit a sacrifice fly to left field.
Ursinus knotted the game up in the bottom half of the inning on an error, but sophomore
Emily Kline (Park Ridge, N.J.) was able to keep the damage to a minimum. The Bears took the lead in the next frame when a red-hot Zoe Heinke (Stewartsville, N.J.) singled to center to score runners from second and third.
Gordon took the lead back in the top of the fourth, capitalizing on a big error by the Bears. With two runners on base, the Ursinus catcher overthrew her teammate at first base on a
Katie Dariano (Albany, N.Y.) bunt and allowed two Scots to cross home plate. Dariano later scored from second on an RBI single by
Alyssa Unumb (Bedford, Mass.), giving Gordon a 4-3 advantage.
The Scots' lead would be short-lived as Ursinus tacked on three runs in the bottom half of the fourth on a pair of doubles by Heinke and Casey Derella (Millville, N.J.). Ursinus added to its lead in the fifth and sixth innings to force an early end for the Scots, 12-4.
Heinke went 4-for-4 from the plate with a school record seven RBI, while freshman Sammi Donato (Havertown, Pa.) made it on base five times and scored each time.
Jenkerson and Unumb both picked up two hits for the Fighting Scots.
Game Two: Simmons 14 – 4 Gordon Simmons rapped out a season-high 18 hits and saw five players collect multiple base knocks, while scoring multiple runs in three different innings.
D'Arpino was 4-5 with two runs batted in, while LeBrun was also 4-5 with a triple, an RBI and three runs scored for the Sharks. First year third baseman Dominique Ortiz (Lawrence, Mass.) finished the tilt going 3-4 with a run batted in and two runs scored and first year right fielder Michaela Reeves (Reading, Mass.) collected two hits in addition to a pair of runs scored and two RBI. First year first baseman Alexandra Moleski (Bridgeport, Conn.) recorded the first two hits of her collegiate career and also knocked in a pair of runs.
First year pitcher Tori Gomes (Taunton, Mass.) (1-1) earned her first collegiate victory with four innings of relief, allowing one run on five hits and struck out two batters.
Sophomore designated player Kline led Gordon with three hits in four at-bats, including a triple and drove in a run. First year third baseman Jenkerson sophomore first baseman
Sarah Ryder (Telford, Pa.) and senior catcher
Hope Zigterman (Villa Park, Ill.) all collected a pair of hits with Ryder driving in a run and Jenkerson scoring a run. Senior center fielder
Marissa Meenan (Wayne, Pa.) also brought home a pair of runs with a single and scored two runs for the Fighting Scots.
The Simmons offense went to work right away with five runs in the top of the fifth, keyed by a run-scoring triple from LeBrun and RBI singles from senior center fielder Heather White (Westfield, Mass.), junior designated player Alison Gauvin (Whitefield, Maine), Moleski and D'Arpino.
Gordon answered with three runs in the bottom of the third. Meenan roped a two-run single to center field and Ryder's single up the middle brought home the third run to cut the deficit to 5-3. The Sharks got a run back in the fourth when LeBrun stroked a leadoff single to center, went to second on a passed ball, to third on a wild pitch and came around to score on a ground out to first by Reeves to make it 6-3.
The Fighting Scots scored their final run of the day in the fifth when Meenan was hit by a pitch with one out and came around to score on a triple to left by Kline to pull them to within 6-4.
Simmons scored two runs in the sixth to increase its lead to 8-4 and put the contest out of reach with six runs in the seventh to make it 14-4. Moleski keyed the sixth with an RBI single and Ortiz, Reeves and D'Arpino highlighted the seventh with run-scoring singles.
The Sharks will be in action again on Thursday, March 10 when they return to Foundation Academy for a 3:00 p.m. tilt with Wheaton College (Ill.), while Gordon plays Thiel College at 9:00 a.m. on the same day.
Release courtesy of Simmons Sports Information
