Next Game:
at Wellesley
4/8/2026 | 3:00 PM ET
Apr. 08 (Wed) / 3:00 PM ET
at Wellesley
NEW LONDON, Conn. —Â
The United States Coast Guard Academy picked up a pair of New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) victories on Saturday, April 4th, with a doubleheader sweep of league foes Salve Regina University. The Bears took full advantage of a beautiful spring day in their first outing at home on Nitchman Field this season, taking both games by mercy-rule scores of 9-1 and 8-0.
Coast Guard improves to 10-6 on the season and 4-0 in NEWMAC play, while Salve moves to 3-15 overall and 0-6 in league play. The Seahawks will look to break their four-game losing streak on Wednesday, April 8th, at non-conference opponents UMass Dartmouth (12-6).
Game 1: Bears 9, Salve 1 (6 Inn.); Box Score
Salve scored their only run of the game in the 1st inning. An Emma Plourde double to right-center put runners on second and third, and Madeleine Oswald followed up with an infield ground out. Freshman infielder Caitlynn Gibson (Niskayuna, N.Y.) equalized in the bottom half with an RBI double. She finished the first game with a 2-for-4 effort at the plate.Â
Senior right-hander Emma Behel (Ellicott City, Md.) shook off the opening frame and settled in with 1-2-3 innings in the 2nd and 3rd. Senior captain Maura Murphy (Bristow, Va.) led off the bottom 2nd with a triple, but Salve starter Caroline Peterson escaped unscathed. She wasn’t as lucky in the bottom of the 3rd as Coast Guard struck for a seven-run inning. Junior captain Abriana Schmutz (Marysville, Ohio) started the frame with a double down the left field line as part of her 2-for-4 showing. After the hosts already added two to their total, Murphy broke it open with a three-run shot to left field. CGA added two more just a batter later when junior captain Mack Murnane (Castle Hayne, N.C.) entered as a pinch hitter and sent it over the same fence to make the scoreboard say 8-1.Â
The Seahawks applied pressure on Behel in the top of the 4th, loading the bases with just one down. The situation prompted a pitching change, and Behel was relieved by classmate and team captain Dana Walker (Macon, Ga.), who got her team out of the inning unscathed by inducing comebackers for the fielder’s choice out at home and then another for the easy force out at first base.
Walker was perfect for the rest of the first contest, allowing no hits and issuing no free passes during her 2.2 innings, and the hitters ended the first game early in the bottom 6th. Gibson pulled a one-out single down the right field line and then advanced to scoring position on a wild pitch. The table was set for sophomore infielder Lauren Ragonese (Liverpool, N.Y.), who delivered a pinch-hit double down the left field line to bring her teammate around.
Behel picked up the win and improved to 2-0, finishing with four hits allowed, an earned run, a walk, and a strikeout over 3.1 innings of work. Peterson moved to 1-9 after the Bears tabbed her for six hits, eight earned runs, and six walks while she struck out three. Seahawks reliever Shea Murphy allowed four hits and struck out two outside of the mercy-applying run in the 6th.
Game 2: Bears 8, Salve 0 (5 Inn.); Box Score
The break between games did little to slow down Walker. The righty from Georgia allowed just one hit, walked two, and struck out five on the way to improving her record to 6-3. Murphy returned to the circle for Salve Regina and allowed 11 hits, eight earned runs, a walk, and sent down two while pitching the whole game, moving her record to 2-5.
After a scoreless first frame, senior infielder Bridget Bartz (Arlington, Va.) broke it open with a two-run shot to center field. Coast Guard added three more in the 3rd on a trio of RBI singles. A one-out Schmutz triple down the left field line scored one to start the bottom of the fourth before Gibson drove her in with a single to center field. The freshman eventually made it over to third base, from where she scored on a sac fly by Murphy. Outside of a free pass, Walker rolled two ground outs before putting a bow on game two with a strikeout.
Schmutz and freshman first base Ella Stolarzyk (Danville, Calif.) both had two-hit games for the Bears, with part of Stolarzyk’s being one of the RBI singles in the 3rd inning. Joining her in that regard was sophomore center fielder Hayden Reilly (Prosper, Tex.) and Murnane. Every hitter in the Bears’ lineup recorded a base hit during game two.
USCGA softball will look ahead to their next one on Wednesday, April 8th, which features more in-conference action at Wellesley College (8-7, 1-3 NEWMAC). The teams split last season’s twinbill in New London, with Coast Guard falling 1-5 in the first game before bouncing back for a 2-0 win in game two. Behel held the Blue to three hits while picking up the complete game shutout win.
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