Bulldogs drop two in S.C. on Saturday

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University softball team dropped a pair of tough decisions on Saturday afternoon in the first games of the Chanticleer Classic in Conway, S.C., falling to Applachian St., 4-1, and host Coastal Carolina, 2-1.

GAME ONE

After multiple schedule changes due to inclement weather, the Bulldogs finally got a change to take the field, but it was the Mountaineers who brought the firepower to hand Bryant the Game 1 loss 

Appalachian's Cara Parker picked up an RBI single in the top of the third to score Sarah Womack to put the Mountaineers up 1-0 through three and half innings. Just over an inning later, senior Taylor Bell (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) singled home classmate Aubrey Mable (Aurora, Colo.) to knot the score, 1-1, after four complete innings.

In the next half innings, the Mountaineers exploded for the final three runs of the contest, scoring a pair off a Ashley Seering single, and one more on a Whitney Johnson bases loaded walk.

Sophomore Katelin Saunders (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) was handed the loss, picking up a pair of strikeouts despite allowing four runs in 4.2 innings on 10 hits. Seniors Kendall Corder (Carmichael, Calif.), Lauren Guy ( La Habra, Calif.), Mable and Bell each picked up hits for Bryant.

GAME TWO

Saturday's second game was a battle throughout. Coastal used single runs in the first and second innings to hold off the Bulldogs.

In the first, Bri Chiusano walked, stole second, stole third and scored on a throwing error by the catcher to give the Chanticleers a 1-0 edge. They added a second run in the very next inning as Jessie Winans delivered a two-out RBI double to right field.

Bryant hung with the hosts and eventually cut the deficit in half with a single run in the top of the fourth. Kristen Carter (Branchville, N.J.) opened the inning with a single to left and moved to second on a sac bunt by Corder. Madeline Velasquez (Los Angeles, Calif.) followed with a big double to left field to score Carter and make it a 2-1 game. Coastal starter Ashley Bagwell escaped further trouble with a strikeout and a fly out. Bagwell went on to retire the final 11 batters of the game to earn her sixth win of the year.

Elle Madsen (Wheat Ridge, Colo.) was superb in defeat, allowing just two runs on seven hits in a complete-game effort. She walked three and struck out four. Sophomore Hayley Bottino (Canyon Country, Calif.) added Bryant's third hit of the evening. 

The Bulldogs return to play in the Chanticleer Classic on Sunday with a game against Appalachian St. at 9:45 a.m. and one against Eastern Illinois at 4:30 p.m.