FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Pitt-Bradford softball team fell in a pair of games Friday to Ohio Wesleyan and Wisconsin Superior.
In the first game, the Panthers fell by a 7-2 score.
Pitt-Bradford (4-5) had an outstanding offense performance by senior Bri Stenta (Ridgway/Ridgway) who went a perfect 4-4 in the game and a total of 6-7 on the day.
The Panthers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning after Stenta lined a shot up the middle to score junior Amber Fox (Warren/Youngsville) and senior Heidi Lucke (Canton, MI/Canton) brought home Stenta on an RBI groundout.
Ohio Wesleyan (6-1) eventually took the lead from the Panthers as they found some offense and put together one run in each of the next three innings to lead Pitt-Bradford 3-2 after the fourth.
Pitt-Bradford's offense came to a halt after the first inning as the Panthers found themselves in scoring position multiple different times but unable to cash in any more runs.
Ohio Wesleyan went on to put four more runs on the board in the top of the seventh after they took advantage of a few defensive mistakes by the Panthers that prolonged the inning.
The Panthers took on Wisconsin Superior in game two of its doubleheader and fell to the Yellow Jackets, 2-0.
The Panthers could not find any kind of offense in the game as they were shutout and left eight runners on base.Freshman Taylor Collins (Macedonia, OH/Nordonia) had a notable pitching performance as she only surrendered two runs and five hits in the loss.
The first run of the game came in the fourth inning after a hard hit ball down the line rolled into the corner and led to an inside-the-park homerun for Wisconsin Superior.
The Panthers offense went stagnant as they threatened to score in multiple innings but failed to drive in any runs in the second game.
Wisconsin Superior put one more on the board in the bottom of the sixth to cushion its lead against the Panthers heading into Pitt-Bradford's final at bats.
The Panthers gave Wisconsin Superior a scare in the seventh as they put two runners on base with a chance to tie the game but the offense stalled as the Panthers fall to 0-2 on the day.
Pitt-Bradford head coach Tina Phillips said, "I was happy to see us put back to back games together today, we just couldn't get that big hit. Taylor and Krista gave us strong efforts from the mound. Against Wisconsin, we left a small village on base, we will just have to put up some better at bats with runners on but I am pleased with a lot of what we did on the trip."
The Panthers will return home and host Westminster College on March 21.
