Bulldogs and Seahawks split on Sunday, Bryant wins game two, 4-1

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – After being held scoreless in game one of the doubleheader, 3-0, the Bryant University softball team bounced back to defeat Wagner, 4-1, on Sunday afternoon.

GAME ONE

The Seahawks (11-17, 4-1 NEC) took an early 2-0 lead over the Bulldogs (6-27, 1-4) in the bottom of the first, scoring two runs off three hits. Karen Prihoda scored unearned off a Bryant fielding error, before Zoe Bender scored off Brianna Tredway's line out to left field.

Both teams went down in order in the next two innings, before Wagner pushed the margin to three in the bottom of the fourth. The Seahawks knocked back-to-back doubles, before Kaila Smith scored from third off Alyssa Tucker's ground out to second.

In the final three innings the Bulldogs totaled two more hits, leaving two runners on, including one in scoring position.

Senior Lauren Keast (Holliston, Mass.) went 3-for-3, while Bryant totaled four hits. Smith finished 2-for-3, while the Seahawks scored three runs off seven hits.

Redshirt sophomore Logan Paul (Shaker Heights, Ohio) recorded the loss in the circle, allowing three runs off five hits in four innings. Morgan Brown moved to 7-4 on the season, fanning five batters in five innings. McKaleigh Goodale totaled her third save after striking out four batters in the final two innings.  

GAME TWO

The Seahawks (11-18, 4-2 NEC) again found the early edge over the Bulldogs (7-27, 2-4), scoring one run in the bottom of the third. With two outs and runners on first and second, Amelia Van Orman singled to center field, plating Tredway for the one-run advantage.

The Bulldogs responded back in the top of the fourth, tying the game, 1-1, after freshman Tiffany Bell (Egg Harbor City, N.J.) scored from third off an error by the Wagner second baseman.

In the following frame, the Black and Gold earned their first lead of the day, 2-1. Sophomore Kaleigh Goulart (Marion, Mass.) opened the inning with a singled to right field, before advancing to third on back-to-back ground outs. Freshman Gabrielle Ermish (Pottstown, Pa.) drove Goulart in off an RBI single to third base, giving the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead.

In the top of the sixth, Bryant pushed the margin to three, 4-1, scoring two runs off four hits. With one out, freshman Nicole Zukowski (Medford, N.Y.) singled through the left side. Classmate Marianna Politis (Arcadia, Calif.) followed with a single to left center. Senior Taylor Burger (Killington, Conn.) loaded the bases after singling to short. With two outs and the bases loaded, junior Robyn Ukegawa (Carlsbad, Calif.) placed a two-RBI single in left center, bringing Politis and Zukowski in for Bryant's 4-1 lead.

The Seahawks went down in order in the bottom of the frame and totaled only one hit in the bottom of the seventh as the Bulldogs took game two, 4-1.

Goulart went 2-for-3, as the Bulldogs scored four runs off eight hits. Van Orman went 2-for-3 with one RBI, while the Seahawks scored one run off eight hits.

Ermish earned the win, allowing one run off eight hits, while fanning two. In her second-straight appearance, Goodale recorded the loss, letting up four runs off eight hits, while striking out two.

The Black and Gold have a quick turnaround, facing Harvard in Smithfield on Tuesday at 4 p.m.