By Lindsay Regruto
Staff Writer
The women’s softball team put up a strong fight in the Longwood Tournament last weekend, but it was not enough to capture a win as the Bison went 0-4 for the weekend.
“This weekend was a great learning experience. We took strides in the right direction and learned a lot about ourselves,” Meredith Dickson ’12 said. “We know what we need to work on to be successful and be Patriot League Champions again.”
The Orange and Blue battled it out with Stony Brook in their first match-up of the Longwood tournament on Saturday, losing 1-0. The Bison defense came out strong with a 1-2-3 inning for Alex MacLean ’13 in the third. Both teams were connecting offensively, but neither the Bison nor the Seawolves could bring any of those hits home. The scoreboard remained empty going into the seventh inning. Following a combination of Bison errors, the Seawolves managed to bring in a run late in the inning. Sam Rollandi ’11 singled in the bottom of the seventh, but it was the Bison’s lone hit for the inning.
The Bison came out strong in the second game of the day against Quinnipiac, losing 5-4. The Orange and Blue took advantage of the struggling Bobcat defense to put four runs on the board in the second. Later that inning, pitcher Bridget Gates ’13 had a 3-up-3-down inning to solidify the lead. The fourth inning saw momentum change in favor of the Bobcats as they managed back to back doubles, ending in two runs.
With the score gap decreased, both teams continued to battle it out. Quinnipiac managed to tie up the game in the bottom of the sixth with two more runs. With the score still tied at the end of the seventh, the game was pushed into extra innings. The eighth inning saw no addition to the scoreboard. In the ninth, Quinnipiac managed to put runners in scoring position and brought in the final run of the game on a wild pitch.
The Bison lost to Quinnipiac once again on Sunday with a score of 8-1. In the second, Alison Ford ’11 singled to get on base and stole home in a double steal to give the Orange and Blue a one-run lead. Quinnipiac answered later that inning with a run of its own to tie the game. The Bobcats managed to gain three runs off the Orange and Blue in the third for a 4-1 lead. The Bison defense rallied in the fourth to hold off the Bobcats, but it didn’t last long as the Bobcats scored again in the fifth. The Bison could not get their offense started and were unable to bring anyone else around the bases. Quinnipiac scored three more in the sixth to give the Bison their third loss.
The Orange and Blue lost their final game of the weekend 6-2 against Longwood. Longwood was the first to erase its goose egg off the board, scoring in the third with one run off the Bison. The Bison answered with a run of their own in the fourth to tie the game. The Lancers added at least one run to the board each inning for the remainder of the game. Jessie Snyder ’11 doubled to right center in the seventh to take advantage of the Bison’s last chance to score. Ford singled to bring Snyder home, giving the Bison one more run, but the short rally was not enough.
“This weekend was definitely a tough one for the team, but we came away from it knowning that there are a lot of things to fix, and we’re all committed to making those adjustments,” Snyder said. “We know that we have the potential as a team, it’s just a matter of making things happen.”
The Bison will be back on the field March 11-13 at the George Mason Tournament in Fairfax, Va.