Next Game:
vs. PSU Harrisburg
3/12/2026 | 9:00 AM ET
Mar. 12 (Thu) / 9:00 AM ET
vs. PSU Harrisburg
NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. —Â
The United States Coast Guard Academy softball team recorded a pair of high-scoring wins on Wednesday to sweep the second-to-last day of their Spring Break trip to Myrtle Beach. Coast Guard defeated Lancaster Bible College, 7-1, in the morning game before mercy-ruling Penn State Beaver, 9-1, in the afternoon.
Game 1 — Bears 7, Lancaster Bible 1; Box Score
A late-game offensive burst combined with a dominant outing by senior captain Dana Walker (Macon, Ga.) powered the Bears past the Chargers. Leading Coast Guard’s lineup was sophomore outfielder Hayden Reilly (Prosper, Tex.), who went 2-for-4 with a double and two runs batted in. Freshman first base Ella Stolarzyk (Danville, Calif.) was 3-for-4 with an RBI and a stolen base, while senior infielder Bridget Bartz (Arlington, Va,) and sophomore catcher Madeline Kibler (Effingham, Ill.) were respectively 2-for-4 with an RBI and 2-for-3.
Walker limited Lancaster to one run (earned), four hits, and a walk while striking out seven to improve to 3-1 on the season. Each of those four hits came from different Chargers, with Ava Stern and KariAnn Mecke both recording doubles for theirs. Stern was tabbed for the loss while she and Maddison Atkins allowed a combined five earned runs, 12 hits, and five walks while sending down four.
Lancaster was first to strike in the bottom of the second as Carleigh Cleland drove in a run from third with an infield ground out, and Stern got through four full innings of work before Coast Guard broke into the score column. With runners on the corners, a liner to left field by junior captain Abriana Schmutz (Marysville, Ohio) was dropped and rolled deep into foul territory, allowing the runner from third to score and placing Schmutz and Stolarzyk on second and third.
Both of them crossed home in the next at-bat to make it a 3-1 ballgame, with Stolarzyk scoring on a wild pitch and Schmutz dashing towards the plate after an errant throw from the catcher. Following back-to-back walks for Coast Guard, Bartz drove one in with a single up the middle. The Bears added three more for good measure in the top 7th when Reilly shot one to center for a two-RBI double and was subsequently brought around on a single up the middle by Stolarzyk.
Game 2 — Bears 9, PSU Beaver 1 (5 Inn.); Box Score
The sticks stayed sizzling for Coast Guard despite a long break between games. This time around, it was Zoey Lynn (Nokomis, Fla.) giving those in attendance a glimpse of what it would be like if Babe Ruth was a 4/c USCGA cadet. In her first collegiate start, the freshman right-hander pitched the whole game, allowing just three hits and striking out four while going 3-for-3 at the dish with two doubles and five RBIs. Schmutz and fellow junior captain Mack Murnane (Castle Hayne, N.C.) both went 2-for-3, with Schmutz swiping a bag and Murnane hitting a double.
Kierstyn Mays was 2-for-3 for Beaver, while Haley Cook picked up the other hit for the Nittany Lions. Mackenzie Boyd and Reza Benson allowed seven earned runs and 11 hits with Boyd receiving credit for the loss.
Senior captain Maura Murphy (Bristow, Va.) opened the scoring in the bottom first with a sac fly to center field to drive in Reilly, and Lynn made it 3-0 in the top 2nd on a two-RBI double. Coast Guard doubled their score in the third inning after Murnane come home from third base on a Beaver error, which was followed by Lynn knocking her second two-run double of the day.
The Nittany Lions broke through in the top of the 4th on Cook’s RBI single to drive in Boyd, but Coast Guard put the final offensive touches on their mercy-rule victory in the bottom half. Sophomore outfielder Zoey Cascio (Burke, Va.) pieced a ball to right-center to drive in two on her first career double, and Lynn followed by bringing her around with a single. Outside of a single from Mays, Lynn forced a pair of ground outs and a fly out to close out the day.
Bears softball will wrap up their Spring Break trip tomorrow with two more games against Nittany Lyon teams, taking on Penn State Harrisburg at 9 AM ET and Penn State Scranton at 11 AM. Coast Guard defeated Harrisburg, 8-1, during last year’s spring break trip, benefitting from multi-hit games by Reilly and Schmutz and a complete game from Walker.
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