VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The Gettysburg College softball team dropped a pair of contests at the Virginia Wesleyan College Beach Blast on the first day of its spring break trip.
Gettysburg (0-4) fell in its opening game 5-0 to Roanoke College (7-6) before suffering a 4-1 setback to Manhattanville College (6-4).
The Bullets fell behind early against the Maroons as Becca Wenger smacked a two-run homer in the second inning. An unearned run in the fourth and a two-run single by Kate Priester accounted for the rest of the scoring against senior
Aileen Reilly (Huntington Station, N.Y./St. Anthony's), who finished with three strikeouts in six innings.
Gettysburg posted five singles against Roanoke hurler Emily Salsberry. Senior
Wendy Folfas (Westminster, Md./McDonogh School) and freshman
Shelby Baker (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington) recorded back-to-back hits in the fourth to set up a first-and-third situation, but Baker was caught trying to steal second to end the threat.
Sophomore
McKenzie Somers (Littlestown, Pa./Littlestown) turned in a scoreless inning of relief for the Bullets against Roanoke.
Sophomore
Sarahrose Jonik (Glenmoore, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) led off the game against Manhattanville with the first of her three hits. She stole second, but was left stranded as the next three batters were set down in order.
The Valiants picked up a pair of runs in the second inning and tacked on another on a solo shot by Aarin Hartenstein in the third. The Bullets cut the margin down to two in the top of the fourth inning on a run-scoring single by sophomore
Liz Cowell (Verona, N.J./Mount Saint Dominic).
Despite putting runners on the bases in each of the final three frames, Gettysburg was unable to cut the deficit further, while Manhattanville added an insurance run in the fifth.
Sophomore
Morgan Clauser (Columbus, N.J./Northern Burlington) took the loss after giving up four runs on seven hits with one strikeout. Somers tossed another scoreless inning of relief and Jonik finished 3-for-4.
Gettysburg continues its southern trip at the Fastpitch Dreams Tournament in Myrtle Beeach, S.C., on March 12-15. The Bullets take on Rutgers-Camden and Emory & Henry College at 9:30 and 11:30 a.m., respectively, on Monday.
