Kissimmee, Fla. - On day three of competition at the Rebel Games in Kissimmee, FL, the Skidmore College softball team went 1-1, falling 2-0 to Nazareth in the opener and defeating Spring Arbor, 8-5 in the nightcap.
After running into a hot pitcher against Nazareth, the Thoroughbreds found themselves in a tight contest with the NAIA powerhouse Spring Arbor Cougars. Abby Fuhrman started on the mound for the Thoroughbreds, pitching four strong innings, keeping the Cougar hitters off balance. Fuhrman gave up three runs over the four innings and pitched her way out of several Cougar rallies early on.
Once again, first year Julia Schwartz sparked the Thoroughbred offense with a blast over the centerfield fence for her second homerun of the year. Lauren Dinsdale followed Schwartz with a wall ball double and came around to score on a single to right by Cora Crafts to bring Skidmore within one. The Cougars came back in the bottom of the fourth and loaded the bases but the Thoroughbred defense was able to hold the Cougars to just one run to put the score 4-2 Spring Arbor.
The Skidmore offense would come right back in the top of fifth inning with a lead-off single to center by Arielle Manstein. With Manstein on first base, Dinsdale came through in the clutch, driving her first homerun of the year into deep right centerfield to tie the game at four. Dinsdale and Manstein both finished the game 2-3 with Dinsdale driving in 3 RBI's.
The Cougars came back with one more run in the bottom of the fifth, but that was the last run they would score when Sam Crose entered the game for the Thoroughbreds and shut down the Cougar offense giving up no hits and striking out six.
The Skidmore offense took care of the rest in the top of the sixth, as they opened the inning with walks drawn by Lauren Tobias, Derrin Jarvis, and Manstein to load the bases. The discipline at the plate continued for the Thoroughbred hitters as Schwartz and Dinsdale, both drew RBI walks to put the Thoroughbreds ahead 6-5. Junior Caitlin Ketcham drove an RBI single to centerfield to add to the lead, while Crafts drew the sixth walk of the inning to bring in the final run of the game.
Skidmore improved their record to 4-2 on the week and will face Rutgers-Camden tomorrow at 9AM and Rowan at 11AM.
