WINTER HAVEN, Fla – The USciences softball team closed out its spring break trip in Florida with three games on Thursday.
West Virginia Wesleyan
University of the Sciences opened the scoring in the first and led 1-0 until the fifth inning of a 5-2 loss.
Gabrielle Simms' leadoff single led to the opening run as Ashley Steiner and Danielle Jones followed the first out with a walk and single, respectively, and Gabriella Polera's fielder's choice made it 1-0.
The Devils would strand two runners in the first and three more in the second, but starter Paige Schlechter surrendered just one hit in her first four innings of work.
She also got the first out of the fifth, before three singles and walk led to two West Virginia Wesleyan runs.
USciences led off the bottom-half with a Simms walk and Abbigail Markee single, and it also got two runners on in the sixth, including a Lauren Del Giudice single, but the Devils could never tie the score.
The Bobcats then broke things open with a three-run homer in the seventh.
Markee recorded her second single in the seventh to finish 2-for-3, and Polera drove in her second run with an RBI double.
Simms reached base three times as she went 1-for-2 with two base on balls.
Pitt-Johnstown
University of the Sciences led 3-0 after two and a half innings of play, as Simms was involved in both scoring innings.
She and Markee led off the morning with back-to-back singles and after a Steiner sacrifice bunt, Jones opened the scoring with yet another single.
A Polera sacrifice fly completed a two-run frame and after Megan Master stranded two runners in the bottom of the second, Simms led off the third with a home run.
The lead was short-lived however, as a leadoff error and four hits led to five runs in the bottom-half, three of which were unearned.
By the time University of the Sciences threatened again in the sixth, the Mountain Cats had added six runs for an 11-3 final.
Markee finished a perfect 3-for-3 for her second three-hit performance in four games.
Simms went 2-for-3 with the two runs as her first inning run was the 67th of her career, now ninth in program history.
Up Next
University of the Sciences plays its first game back up north when it hosts Lincoln for a doubleheader on March 20 at 12 p.m.
