SPRINGFIELD, Mass.—Defending Commonwealth Coast Conference champion Western New England proved to be a stiff test for Gordon Softball, taking a doubleheader sweep at the Golden Bear Softball Park on Friday afternoon. A late-game rally gave the Golden Bears a 5-2 win in game one before outscoring the Scots 9-6 in the second contest.
 
The Fighting Scots fall to 3-12-1 overall and 0-4 in the CCC after the first week of conference competition. The Golden Bears stay atop the CCC standings at 4-0 in the league and 10-8 overall.
 
Game One: Gordon 2 – 5 Western New England
 
The Fighting Scots took the early lead with a run in the top of the first inning. Kaelie Mercado (Granada Hills, Calif.) singled with one out in the frame before being ushered two bases thanks to a double by senior Marissa Meenan (Wayne, Pa.). Mercado was able to tag from third when Emily Kline (Park Ridge, N.J.) flied out to deep center field.
 
Gordon looked poised to add to its lead in the top of the fourth with two on and two outs, but a runner was thrown out at the plate after a single by Alyssa Unumb (Bedford, Mass.) to end the threat.
 
Kline was able to keep the Golden Bear offense at bay for the better part of three innings, but the hosts eventually broke through in the fourth. The first three Gordon Bears reached base safely, two due to singles to the left side and another on an error. The Scots almost got out of the inning with a double play, but the Golden Bears were able to tack on two runs before the end of the rally.
 
The Scots tied the game in the fifth as the first two Gordon batters reached due to costly errors. Megan Jenkerson (McDonough, Ga.) was able to take three bases on an error in the outfield and scored on the next play on an error committed by the WNE first baseman.
 
Western New England put some distance between them and the Fighting Scots in the bottom half of the fifth. Errors once again played a major role as the Golden Bears scored two runs despite only putting one hit on the board, an RBI double by Alexis Bukowski (Wallingford, Conn.). 
 
WNE tacked on another run in the sixth inning and held Gordon to 1-2-3 innings in the final two frames to pull out the 5-2 victory.
 
Corianna DeLisi (Tuxedo, N.Y.), Tara Cabral (Kingston, Mass.) and Bukowski combined for six hits and three RBI. Carleigh Petersen (North Hills, Calif.) led Gordon with five hits.
 
Game Two: Gordon 6 – 9 Western New England
Gordon followed a similar script in the second game, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Jenkerson led off the game with a solo home run, the first of her young career.
 
WNE answered right back in the bottom half with two runs on four hits, including an RBI by captain McKenzie Pezze (Albany, N.Y.).
 
Gordon fell into a deep hole in the third inning when WNE batted around, forcing the Scots to make a pitching change. The Golden Bears had three RBI knocks in the inning and five hits overall to push five runs across for a 7-1 lead.
 
The Scots looked to answer in the next half inning with four straight hits to begin the inning, scoring three runs. However a double play and a groundout effectively ended the threat without any further damage.
 
A three-run deficit went back up to five in the second half of the fourth as the Golden Bears continued to string hits together to push runs across the plate.
 
Gordon scored twice more in the top of the seventh as a last-ditch effort, with both coming off the bat of Kline on a two-out double.
 
On Deck:
The Fighting Scots are off on Saturday due to the incoming weather and will next be on the field on Monday when they host Salem State for a doubleheader.