BOX 1/BOX 2
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Fredonia State lost its first two games of the spring Thursday on its final day at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic.
Defensive lapses and the lack of clutch hitting resulted in both losses -- 3-1 to Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, and 5-4 to Albright -- after 12 straight wins to open the season.
Against MCLA,
Jennifer Tighe took the loss despite a solid pitching performance. She pitched all seven innings, struck out seven, and allowed only three hits. Two of the three MCLA runs were unearned.
Perhaps it was a sign of things to come when the first MCLA hitter reached base on an uncaught third strike. The runner eventually scored as a result of an error later in the inning. MCLA added single runs in the second and third innings.
All the Blue Devils could muster in response was a run in their last of the first.
Tina Schwartzmeyer singled, stole second, and scored on an MCLA error. But the Fredonia State bats, so potent earlier in the week, did not deliver despite advancing runners to third base twice and to second twice. Schwartzmeyer and
Anne Wasik had two hits each for the Blue Devils, who left six runners standed overall.
In their final game of the Cusic Classic, the Blue Devils had better at-bats but still left seven runners stranded and were unable to get out of their defensive doldrums. They made five errors in the loss to Albright. Three of the five runs allowed by
Alyssa Brognano were unearned. She struck out six in 5 1/3 innings.
The Blue Devils led twice in the game, but could not hang on. They took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on a lead-off single by
Brittany Lis, an Albright error, a walk to Wasik, and a sacrifice fly by
Rachel Burrows. After Albright scored two runs in the last of the third, the Blue Devils responded with a run in the fourth and one in the fifth to take a 3-2 lead.
In the fourth,
Julie Arnold led off the inning with a double, advanced to third on a single by
Lauren Larson, and scored on a single by Burrows. In the fifth,
Michelle Lattner singled, advanced to sacrifice bunt by Lis, and scored on a single by Arnold, her second hit of the day. Albright took command with three runs in the last of the sixth.
The loss dropped the Blue Devils to 12-2 heading back north. They are back in action at home March 30 vs. Alfred University.
