NAPLES, Fla. – The Edgewood College softball team fell twice in the first day of the 2016 Gene Cusic Classic Friday afternoon at North Collier Regional Park. The Eagles first lost to The College at Brockport by a score of 5-0 and then fell 7-3 to Augsburg College. The Eagles now stand at 2-4 overall with eight games remaining in Florida.
The Eagles were only outhit by a 6-5 margin against Brockport but couldn't string hits together against Brockport starter Jaime Berger. It wasn't until the top of the fourth inning when the Eagles recorded their first hit thanks to a Jackie Diesch single through the middle. By then Brockport had built a 3-0 lead.
Brockport added to that lead with a pair of runs in the next half inning to go up 5-0. The Eagles threatened by loading the bases in the sixth after singles from Jordan Anderson, Diesch and Grace Delleman but Berger got out of the jam with a strikeout. Alyssa Hickey got the seventh inning going with a single to left field but that would be all the Eagles offense could muster in the final frame.
Rachel DeJongh received the loss after allowing three earned over four innings while Klossner pitched the final two frames without giving up a hit. Diesch was the lone Eagles batter with multiple hits after recording two singles.
Augsburg threatened right away in the first inning in the second game of the day, but Klossner worked around three singles and got out of the frame unscathed. The Eagles nearly pushed one across in the second and had a baserunner reach third base in the third but couldn't find a way to get on board.
Augsburg put together two runs on one hit and two Eagles errors in the fourth to get things going offensively. The Eagles responded by loading the bases in the sixth before finally lighting up the scoreboard in the seventh.
After an Augsburg error put Sydney Cramer on first to lead off the inning, Sabrina Maicke ripped one to left field to put two on with one out. Jordan Anderson then blasted one to dead center field that found its way over the fence for a three-run shot.
Klossner was tagged with the loss but only allowed one earned run over three innings. Shannon Whitmus relieved Klossner and also allowed only one run on four hits over the final four innings.
At the plate, Diesch was again the lone player on the team with multiple hits after going 2-for-3 with a walk. Jordan Anderson's blast was her third of the year while Kylie Clark, Maicke, Whitmus and Sabrina Luedtke recorded the other hits on the day.
The Eagles will resume play at the Gene Cusic Classic on Saturday with a 12 pm (CT) game against Kenyon College and a 4 pm (CT) contest against the University of Pittsburgh-Bradford. Saturday's games will be played at the CenturyLink Sports Complex in Fort Myers, Fla.
