NEWPORT, R.I.—Gordon Softball faced some tough sledding against the defending Commonwealth Coast Conference champs on Friday afternoon. The Scots dropped a pair of games by an identical 8-0 score to kick off the CCC 2017 schedule.
 
Gordon hung around in both games until the late stages, but the big bats of the CCC favorite Seahawks came through in the fifth and sixth innings in each game.
 
Salve staved off two singles for the Fighting Scots in the top of the first of game one and took a lead in the bottom half after a leadoff triple. The 1-0 score held until the fifth when the Seahawks took firm control of game momentum. Salve added three in the frame and five more in the sixth to end the game by run rule.
 
Senior Carleigh Petersen (North Hills, Calif.) had two of Gordon's three hits in the game.
 
Offense was even harder to come by in game two as Salve starter Kaleigh Dwyer (E. Brunswick, N.J.) allowed only two hits
 
Salve scored twice in the bottom of the first and held a 3-0 lead entering the fifth inning. Gordon was unable to cut the lead in the inning before the Seahawks crossed the plate five times in the bottom half of the stanza to complete the sweep in five innings.
 
Freshman leadoff hitter Francesca Galeazzi (Lynn, Mass.) was tough to stop with six hits and four runs scored between the two games. Emily Woznick (Sandy Hook, Conn.) also had a big day with five hits.
 
Salve's run game put pressure on the Fighting Scots all afternoon with 11 steals, compared to just one for Gordon.
 
The Fighting Scots (3-9) will look to end a five-game skid next week when they "host" Newbury College. The games with the Nighthawks were moved to Gordon's campus for Wednesday, but the Scots will be the away team.