CALDWELL SOFTBALL SPLITS PAIR AT REBEL GAMES TO START SEASON

3-14-08
CC 6, ESU 2
MSU-M 4, CC 3 (8 inn.)
KISSIMMEE, Fla. - The Caldwell College softball team opened the 2008 season with a 6-2 win over East Stroudsburg University, followed by a 4-3 loss in eight innings to 17th-ranked Minnesota State-Mankato at the Rebel Spring Games Friday afternoon at the Osceola County Softball Complex. Freshman Annie Forte (Toms River, NJ/Toms River North) drove in five runs on the day to lead the Caldwell bats.

In the win over East Stroudsburg, the Cougars got on the board in the top of the second, when Forte (left) doubled home sophomore Brittni Frantellizzi (Binghamton, NY/Susquehanna Valley) and senior Alyssa Speno (Waterloo, NY/Waterloo), then scored on a single by senior Nicole Bodrog (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) for a 3-0 lead. After the Warriors scored their first run of the game in the bottom of the third, Bodrog's two-run single that plated Forte and sophomore Sydney Day (Houston, TX/Stratford) for a 5-1 advantage. East Stroudsburg put another run on the board in the fourth before Forte drove in her third run of the game with a single down the right field line that brought home sophomore Danielle Genovese (Livingston, NJ/Livingston) to make the score 6-2.

Junior pitcher Kristen de la Campa (Whitman, MA/Whitman Hanson) pitched four innings and allowed five hits and two runs to earn the victory. Junior Cecilia Goforth (Houston, TX/St. Agnes Acad.) fanned five while giving up just one hit in three shutout innings of relief to preserve the win. Bodrog and Forte each finished with three hits and three RBIs.

Against Mankato, the Mavericks took a 2-0 lead on a double by Libbie Reichling in the first and a solo home run by Abby Wagner in the second. The Cougars put a run on the scoreboard in the third when Bodrog's sacrifice fly allowed sophomore Kyrie Timbrook (Los Gatos, CA/Los Gatos) to score. Mankato restored its two-run lead with a run in the top of the fifth. Then in the bottom of the sixth, Forte came up big with a two-run double to tie the game at 3-3. With the game still tied after seven innings, a runner was placed on second base to start the eighth per international rules. Reichling singled home Lynndi Decker for a 4-3 lead. In the bottom of the eighth, the Cougars put runners at second and third with two out, but pitcher Samantha Rohr retired the final batter to end the game.

Goforth pitched seven innings in the loss, allowing eight hits and three runs. Forte worked the eighth and took the loss. Rohr gave up one hit in 2 2/3 innings of relief to earn the win.

The Cougars continue play at the Rebel Spring Games on Saturday, Mar. 15, with games against No. 4 Lock Haven University and Wisconsin-Parkside.

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