IRVINE, CA -- It was a good news, bad news type of day for the Williams College softball team Thursday. The good news is the Ephs played better. The bad news? They dropped a doubleheader to NAIA member Concordia, losing the opener 5-1 and the nightcap 11-1 in five innings.
"I thought we came out with better intensity, and more enthusiasm," Ephs head coach Kris Herman said. "We hit the ball better, we had one of those days where we hit the ball hard but right at people. But we continued to grow and learn more about ourselves, and that's what we're focused on out here."
Williams fell to 0-6 with the double dip. The Ephs play a doubleheader tomorrow at Vanguard beginning at 2 p.m. PST.
Thursday's opener was a pitcher's duel for the first four frames as Williams' Mary Beth Daub and Concordia's Morgan Reiter matched zeros. Concordia broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth on a passed ball with two outs.
Concrodia scored three times in the fifth, the big blow a two-run single up the middle by Brieanna Eckel. Williams countered when junior Carly Ameen, a Drury (North Adams) graduate, lined a lead-off home run to left-center field leading off the sixth inning.
But that was all the offense the Ephs could muster off Reiter, who allowed only two hits and did not walk a batter over seven innings. First year Cedar Blazek had the other hit for the Ephs.
Daub took the loss, allowing six hits and walking one over six innings of work. She struck out one and was charged with all five runs, four earned.
In the nightcap, the Ephs took a brief 1-0 lead in the top of the first when, with two outs, Merilee Weston walked and stole second. She scored on Blazek's RBI-single.
Concordia answered with two runs in its half of the first, and added three in the second. First year Megan Casey took the loss for the Ephs, going 3 1/3 innings and allowing nine runs, all earned, one nine hits. She walked two and struck out none.
Williams had three hits in the loss, one each by Blazer, Alison Hart and Jess Cross.
