CLERMONT, Fla. - The Colby College softball team split a pair of games in Florida on Thursday, dropping a narrow 3–1 decision to St. Lawrence University before bouncing back with an 8–3 victory over Augustana College (Ill.) later in the day.
St. Lawrence 3, Colby 1:
St. Lawrence (3-7) scored twice in the bottom of first inning to take an early lead. The Saints open the game with back-to-back singles before bringing home the first run on a Mule error. An RBI ground out later in the inning allowed another runner to score, giving St. Lawrence a 2-0 advantage.
Colby (11-2) responded in the top of the third inning to cut the deficit to one. Senior
Carissa Cassidy reached on an error, advanced to second on a single by senior
Emma Burnham and later scored on an RBI single to left field by junior
Juliana Kiley, bringing the score to 2-1.
The Saints added an insurance run in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI double to right center.
Burnham, Kiley, sophomore
Avery Lyman and senior
Victoria Ramirez each recorded a hit in setback while Kiley had the lone RBI for the Mules.
In the circle, freshman
Sharlotte Stazinski (3-1) took the loss after allowing three runs (one earned) off seven hits with nine strikeouts in six innings of work.
Colby 8, Augustana (Ill.) 3:
In the nightcap, the Mules (13-1) used a dominant pitching performance and a late offensive explosion to defeat Augustana College (2-7).
The Vikings quickly grabbed a 1-0 lead against Colby in the top of the first inning off wild pitches.
Both teams produced quick innings until the bottom of the third when Colby scored three to overtake the upper hand. Sophomore
Julia Berry hit a one-out single to right field before scoring on a triple down the right field line by Cassidy before Burnham was walked and stolen second to put two runners into scoring position. Junior
Ella Wilcox and Kiley then delivered back-to-back RBI singles to drive in Cassidy and Burnham for a 3-1 lead.
The Mules grabbed two more in the following inning to stretch their gap to 5-1 off an RBI single by Cassidy and later scored the second run on an error.
In the bottom of the fifth, Colby tallied three more runs on the scoreboard on a bases loaded walk to Berry and a two-out two-run single to left center by Burnham.
Augustana scored two in the top of the seventh on an RBI single and a sacrifice fly to count for the 8-3 score.
Meade was outstanding in the circle, allowing two earned runs off seven hits in 6.2 innings in relief of starter junior
Ashley Correll. Meade finished the game with two strikeouts to earn her third win of the season. Correll allowed one earned run with a strikeout in 0.1 innings of work.
Burnham finished with three RBI, while Ramirez and Cassidy each recorded multiple hits in the victory.
Colby returns to the Pine Tree State and will host the University of Maine at Farmington on Wednesday, April 1 for a doubleheader beginning at 4 p.m
