FORT MYERS, Fla. – Regis College dropped a 8-0 decision to Hiram College in six innings and followed that up with a 10-1 setback in five innings to Clark University on Sunday morning as a part of the Gene Cusic Classic in Fort Myers, Fla. The Pride fall to 0-4 on the young year and will take on Wilmington and Dominican on Monday morning.
The Pride's Haley Fountain (Warren, Mass.) blanked Hiram over the first four innings of play, scattering five hits. The Terriers finally broke through in the top of the fifth with a two out rally. Sarah Loyer started the rally for Hiram with a walk before Miranda Wright reached on a fielder's choice. Jessica Bolanz stepped to the plate and doubled to the gap in left center to give the Terriers the 2-0 lead. Samantha Hughes followed with a single through the right side that plated Bolanz and gave Hiram the 3-0 advantage.
Hiram added five more runs on in the top of the sixth, taking advantage of a pair of Pride errors and several passed balls and walks. Regis put the first two runners on in their half of the sixth, but a popout and a line-drive double play ended the rally for the Pride.
Michaela NeJaime (Sandisfield, Mass.) went 2-for-3 at the plate, while Shannon Simonelli (Providence, R.I.) was a perfect 2-for-2 to lead the Pride offense. Haley Fountain (0-2) tossed five innings, and allowed three earned runs on eight hits. Marissa Magarian (Goffstown, N.H.) and Katie Cuozzo (Lynn, Mass.) closed out the final inning for the Pride.
In the first inning against Clark, NeJaime and Fountain led off the game with back-to-back singles, but the Cougars quickly killed the fast start by the Pride by turning a double play and getting a groundout to end the inning. In the bottom of the first, Clark scored six runs on seven hits including a pair of 2-RBI singles from Tatiana Chunis and Molly Clark.
Regis got one back in the top of the seventh as Raegan Heck (Phillipston, Mass.) picked up her first RBI of the season, driving in Kirbie Garvey (Littleton, Mass.), who had tripled over the right fielder's head in her at-bat. After a quiet second inning from the Cougars, they would strike three times in the bottom of the third on RBI singles from Corrie Derosier and Mel Melkonian to take a 9-1 lead. The Pride would only get two more baserunners over the finals two innings as Clark tacked on another run in the fourth to take the 10-1 victory.
Haley Fountain went 2-for-3 at the dish to lead the Pride, while Kirbie Garvey went 1-for-1 with a walk. The pitching duo of Katie Cuozo and Emily Pickett (Wrentham, Mass.) combined to allow 14 hits and 10 earned runs on the day.