NAPLES, Fla. – The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford softball team had a tough day on the diamond, falling in both games Sunday afternoon at North Collier Park.
The Panthers fell 11-3 to the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth in the first game of the day and then fell 9-2 to Augsburg in the finale.
"We got beat by two good hitting teams today," said Pitt-Bradford head coach Tina Phillips. "We still aren't doing some of the little things right and all of them together equal a big thing. We just have to keep focusing on the process and not the outcome right now. We have a very young team."
Amber Fox and Maddy Hillery led the Panthers with one hit and one RBI each in the opener while Taylor Collins drove in one run in the loss.
The Corsairs came out swinging, scoring one run in the first, three in third and really broke the game open with a seven-run third inning.
Collins put the Panthers on the board with an RBI groundout in the bottom of the second, but the Corsairs still led 4-1 after two innings of play.
U-Mass Dartmouth then put the game out of reach with seven runs in the top of the third.
Pitt-Bradford responded with two runs of their own in the bottom of the second. Fox crushed a double to center, allowing Grace Dadzaa to score from second. Hillery then drove Fox in with a single down the left field line.
However, the Panther's offense couldn't muster any more runs and the Corsairs took game one 11-3 in five innings.
Much like U-Mass Dartmouth, Augsburg came to hit as well. The Auggies racked up 14 hits in their 9-2 victory over the Panthers.
Emily Fair, Leann Bell and Fox had the Panther's only three hits while Collins had a sacrifice fly in the game two loss.
Despite ultimately dropping the game, the Panthers did get on the board first when Fox scored on a throwing error.
The Auggies offense really caught fire in the second with one run in the second, five more runs in the third, one in the fourth and one in the sixth to take an 8-1 lead into the sixth.
Collins brought the Panthers to within 8-2 with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth. It was too little, too late, as Pitt-Bradford fell 9-2.
The Panthers get the day off on Monday, before concluding their spring trip with two games on Tuesday, beginning with Nichols at 9 a.m. and Minnesota-Morris at 11 a.m.
