FORT MYERS, Fla. – Regis College suffered an 8-0 setback to Wittenberg University on Sunday afternoon in Fort Myers, Fla. as part of the Gene Cusic Classic. The Pride's (0-1) Kara Donovan (Woburn, Mass.) recorded the lone hit of the day for Regis against the 3-1 Tigers.
The Tigers grabbed a pair of unearned runs in the first inning as Wittenberg scored on a wild pitch and later added a run as Carly Cribbs forced her way into a rundown that allowed Tori Amicon to cross the plate for the early 2-0 lead. A costly Pride mistake allowed two more runs to score as a bad throw plated two more for the Tigers and gave them a 4-0 lead with nobody out in the second inning.
Wittenberg's Jessica Snyder stepped to the plate with a runner on third and promptly smacked a ball into the corner in left and used her speed to race around the bases and record an inside-the-park homerun to give the Tigers a 6-0 advantage. Cribbs added a two run single in the inning to give the Tigers their final runs and an 8-0 lead.
Wittenberg's Julia Williams went the first three innings without allowing a hit until Kara Donovan stepped the plate and flared a soft liner to the hole between short and third. Wittenberg's shortstop dived to her left and knocked it down, but Donovan beat out the throw and broke up the no-hitter. Donovan would move into scoring position on a passed ball, but was stranded at second as Williams got the final two outs of the inning.
In the top of the fifth, Katie Blackburn (Milford, Mass.) smoked what appeared to be a single up the middle, but Snyder was there to make the diving stop, jumped to her feet and threw out Blackburn on a bang-bang play to steal a basehit from the freshman. The Pride went down in order after that as Wittenberg spoiled the season opener.
Emily Pickett (Wrentham, Mass.) suffered the setback for the Pride, going four innings and allowing eight runs on eight hits – but only one run was earned. Williams went five innings for the Tigers and struck out six in the victory.
The Crimson and Gold return to action on Monday morning with a 9:00 a.m. game against Bridgewater State followed immediately by an 11:00 a.m. game against Rochester Institute.
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