After a 19-day hiatus from competition due to inclement weather, the softball team embarked on an 11-game road trip over spring break. The Bears (6-10, 1-3 Ivy) participated in the Santa Clara Round Robin tournament and a doubleheader at St. Mary’s College of California before heading back east and commencing conference play in matchups against Cornell and Princeton.
Santa Clara Round Robin Tournament
In its first game of the tournament, Bruno came out strong, earning a 3-1 win over Manhattan (8-8) . A double from Emily Springfield ’18 at the top of the fifth inning scored Sarah Syrop ’17 and captain Trista Chavez ’15, giving Bruno the lead and the eventual win.
Pitcher Katie Orona ’18 did not allow any earned runs and recorded five strikeouts over seven innings.
The following day, Bruno’s momentum seemed to fizzle out as the squad went scoreless in matchups against Santa Clara and Manhattan.
Against the host Broncos, Bruno fell behind early. Santa Clara scored in each of the game’s final four innings to claim a 6-0 win.
Later that day, Bruno took the field again in a rematch against Manhattan. The Bears failed to redeem their earlier performance and repeat their previous success against the Jaspers. A six-run onslaught during the sixth inning set the Jaspers on pace to run away with the game. Bruno was unable to overcome the deficit in the two remaining innings and an unearned run in the seventh sealed Manhattan’s 8-0 victory.
The Bears concluded play in Santa Clara with a pair of games against the University of California, Santa Barbara. Bruno split the doubleheader with the Gauchos (12-22, 1-2) in two high-scoring contests.
The Bears opened the first game with five runs in the top of the first. In a deviation from the previous day’s games, Bruno scored a run in every single inning except the fifth. Springfield led the way for the Bears, recording three RBIs, two runs scored and a home run — the first in her collegiate career — in Bruno’s 11-1 demolition of Santa Barbara. Orona pitched all five innings of the contest and allowed only one run on seven hits while striking out four. The victory marked her fourth win in as many collegiate starts.
Much to the Bears’ dismay, the second game in the series against the Gauchos did not mirror the first. Santa Barbara got on the board early with three runs in the top of the first inning. While Annie McGregor ’18 and Yeram Park ’18 each recorded a hit and an RBI in the contest, Bruno’s efforts were not enough to counter the Gauchos and the Bears fell in their final game of the tournament with the 10-2 decision.
“We competed every single game and put up a good fight until the very end,” said Janet Leung ’16.
St. Mary’s
Before the squad made its way back to the East Coast, it faced off in a doubleheader against St. Mary’s (15-21).
In Orona’s fifth start of the season, the rookie did not allow a single run in the scheduled seven innings. But a walkoff single in the eighth gave Orona the first loss of her career as Bruno fell 1-0.
Fortunately for the Bears, the second game of the doubleheader did not proceed in the same manner as the first. The teams went to extras again, and an RBI single at the top of the eighth from Springfield and a hitless inning for St. Mary’s lifted the Bears over the Gaels 3-2.
Ivy play
In their first Ivy contest of the season, the Bears headed to Ithaca to take on the Big Red (5-10, 2-2). In the first game of the doubleheader, Cornell got out to an early start that went uncontested by Bruno. A three-run rally led by doubles from Syrop and Park during the top of the seventh then brought the Bears back into the game. But the efforts were not enough, as the Big Red claimed the 4-3 victory.
In the next game, Bruno claimed an early lead and eventually set itself up to run away with the game after a six-run surge in the fourth inning. Brown completed the 10-2 win over the Big Red in five innings.
Wrapping up their road tour, the Bears faced off against Princeton (9-13, 2-0) at Bordentown Regional High School. Both games in the doubleheader were extremely low-scoring, as Princeton won both games in 1-0 decisions.
Jessica Cherness ’15 had a no-hitter through six innings in the second game, but two hits in the bottom of the seventh gave Princeton the walk-off victory.
“Our Ivy League losses this past weekend were all one-run games,” Leung said. “We know we are able to not only compete in the Ivy League, but to be very successful and strong contenders this season.”
Next up, Bruno will finally be able to play on its home field as the team continues conference play and takes on Ivy foes Penn and Columbia this weekend.
“We’re looking forward to getting back on the field this weekend and coming out on top this time,” Leung added. “We’re excited to show all the hard work we’ve put in the past year.”
