MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - - The newcomers stole the show in the first two games of the 2018 season, but the Wilmington University softball team dropped both games on Friday, first to Merrimack, 3-2 (8 innings), and then to Le Moyne, 10-3, to kick off the Snowbird Softball Freeze Out Tournament.
Freshman Makayla McCarthy led the team at the by going 3-for-7 in her collegiate debut while junior transfer Kiana Broderson-Jones batted 3-for-8 with a double. Freshman Lauren Lopez hit the lone home run of the day for the Wildcats (0-2), going 2-for-8 on the day with two extra base hits and a team high two RBI.
The opener featured a seventh inning comeback for the Wildcats, but Merrimack (1-0) was able to take the game with the international tiebreaker in the eighth.
The Warriors jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, getting two unearned sacrifice flies with runners on second and third with no outs. Caitlyn Whiteside settled in from there, only allowing five hits without issuing a walk in the game.
The Wildcats' offense didn't get rolling until the sixth inning when Broderson-Jones led off the inning with a double in front of the left fielder. Freshman pinch hitter delivered a single in her first collegiate at-bat, putting runners on second and third with no outs. Makayla McCarthy picked up her first collegiate RBI with a one out single through the left side, but too hard to only score one run. Merrimack picked up two strikeouts to escape further damage, however.
Senior Keara McCarthy started the top of the seventh with a one out single just over the head of the shortstop. A one-out sac bunt put the game tying run into scoring position for the top of the order. Broderson-Jones came through with a single into left field, scoring McCarthy to tie the game without a throw.
The teams went into the international tiebreaker but the Wildcats couldn't take advantage of a runner on third and no outs. The Warriors came up to bat in the bottom half, saw two pitches, and laid down two bunts to end the game, 3-2.
Broderson-Jones went 3-for-4 with an RBI while Jordan Virden, Lauren Lopez, and Makayla McCarthy all picked up their first collegiate hits.
Wilmington struck first against Le Moyne in the nightcap, using an error on a sacrifice bunt to score Mirabella Klebart form first base.
The score remained 1-0 until the Dolphins (2-0) scored five runs on three hits and one Wildcat error in the fifth inning. The Wildcats cut the deficit in half in the bottom f the fifth as Lopez launched a two-run bomb to left to bring the score to 5-3. But the Dolphins struck again with five more runs in the top of the six, using two hits and two Wilmington errors to keep the inning alive.
The Wildcats did not have an answer after the top of the sixth.
Makayla McCarthy led the team by going 2-of-3 at the plate. Rosa'Lynn Burton, Lopez, Klebart, and Alyssa Velasquez all had single hits to fill out the team's six total.
The Wildcats return to action on Saturday with two more games during the Snowbird Softball Freeze Out. They will face a pair of PSAC foes starting with Slippery Rock at 10 a.m. before facing Kutztown at 12:00 p.m.