CLERMONT, Fla. – The Lesley University softball team dropped a pair of games to open their 2014 season at the annual Dot Richardson Spring Games at the National Training Center in Clermont, Fla. The Lynx dropped a 10-0 decision to Cornell College before Millikin College stormed back to score eight runs in the sixth inning to claim an 11-6 win in the nightcap.
Game One: Cornell 10, Lesley 0
Cornell took an early 3-0 lead, scoring one run in the first before adding two in the second. Junior Ranata Rankin (Fountain, Col.) drove in the Rams' first run with a single through the left side. Classmate Kelsey Boss (Deltona, Fla.) grounded out to bring home the second run for Clermont before the Rams took advantage of a Lynx error to score their third run of the game.
The Rams would add two more in the fourth before blowing the game open with five runs in the top of the seventh.
Junior Sabrina Hargis (Bondurant, Iowa) led the Cornell attack, finishing 2-for-4 on the day with a run scored and two RBI. Senior Rachel Aubry (Longmont, Col.) went 2-for-3 with three runs scored while knocking in one.
Senior pitcher Jackie Serneck (Chicago, Ill.) kept Lesley hitters off balance all game long, registering the complete-game shutout while limiting the Lynx to just three hits while striking out three.
Senior Maria Nazzaro (North Reading, Mass.) finished 1-for-3, while reaching twice on Cornell errors while freshman Mekenzi Golden (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) picked up a double in her career-debut. Sophomore Angela Mukai (Amherst, N.H.) had a pinch-hit single for the Lynx.
Game Two: Millikin 11, Lesley 6
Lesley turned six hits into four runs in the top of the first inning before adding two more runs in the second to take a 6-1 edge. The Lynx bats would go quiet from there as they only managed three more hits the rest of the way.
Millikin battled back and sent 14 hitters to the plate in the fifth, scoring nine runs to take an 11-6 advantage that they would hang on to.
Senior Allison Fountain (Cheshire, Conn.) and Golden each finished with three hits on the day for Lesley while Nazzaro reached base three times from the leadoff spot.