Softball goes 4-1 at Gardner-Webb during opening weekend

Erica Chen, Contributing Writer

Bison softball traveled south Feb. 17–19 to Boiling Springs, N.C. to compete in the Gardner-Webb Tournament. They left with two wins each over Hampton and Gardner-Webb, and only dropped one game to Seton Hall.

Starting the season off strong, the Bison had a 5-0 shutout over Hampton. Meghan Kovac ’18 landed a home run in her first at-bat of the season. The Bison finished with nine hits, including a double and single by Anna Gimmestad ’19.

The team  continued their Feb. 17 hot streak with a 5-2 win over host Gardner-Webb. The Bison finished with eight hits.

In game three versus Gardner-Webb, Bison blew past the Bulldogs to seal an 8-2 win with the help of Paulina Gutkin ’18, who delivered an RBI triple and a three-run double in the fifth inning.

The Bison were able to send a whopping 13 players up to bat during the seven innings. During their fourth game, the Bison suffered their lone loss of the tournament to Seton Hall. While Bison created an initial lead with five runs in the top of the fifth, the Pirates replied with seven in the bottom, narrowly stealing a win.

The Orange and Blue faced Hampton again to close out opening weekend. After being down 4-1 at the top of the third, one run in the bottom of the third and three more in the bottom of the fourth propelled the Bison to a 5-4 victory. Lara Bean ’17 pitched four hitless innings, keeping Hampton away from home plate. Raeanne Geffert ’20 tacked on two more hitless innings of relief. The Bison ended the game with 12 hits consisting of two triples by Gimmestad, two singles apiece from Gutkin and Carolyn Wan ’17, and singles from six other players spanning all class years.

“This weekend was really important for us because it showed that [we] are never out of a game. Three out of the four games we won we played from behind and there was never a point that I didn’t think we weren’t going to win. This team has so much confidence and we have so much fun playing the game we all love,” Kovac said.

Bison softball will be traveling to Rock Hill, S.C. for the Winthrop Invitational on Feb. 24.

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