CAPE CORAL, Fla. – Mount Mary University (2-6) dropped two games Wednesday March 11th, at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic. The first game was a 6-1 loss to Kenyon College (11-3), right after that the Blue Angels dropped a tough fought game against Emmanuel College (4-2) with a final of 9-3.
In the first matchup, the Blue Angels came out a bit cold. Ashley Contreras (Fr./College Station, Texas) gave up five hits in the opening frame, but with a strike from backstop Katie Edwards (Sr./Mackinaw, Ill.) to catch a runner trying to steal second, and some great plays by the defense, MMU escape the inning with just two runs allowed.
Another big inning in the bottom of the fourth, the Ladies loaded the bases with no outs, and came away with four runs and effectively ended Contreras's game in the circle. But once again, the Blue Angels never gave in. Battling at every at-bat, MMU turned a pair of walks, and some speed on the base paths to their only run of the game.
MMU spaced the five hits they had against Kenyon, but never gave up and played clean defense with only one error.
Right after, MMU had to battle the 90 degree heat along with Emmanuel College out of Boston. The bats for the Blue Angels heated up big time in game two. Contreras finished 3-4 with a double and a run scored, and Edwards went 3-4 and continued to be the school's taxi service adding another RBI to her team leading six on the year.
The Blue Angels could never propel themselves in front of the Saints, despite getting 10 hits in the contest. Four early errors, gave Emmanuel the lead, and they would never surrender it. Six stolen bags by the Saints, 11 hits and only one error gave Emmanuel the roadmap to the win against MMU.
"We are still a young team and learning the game…" Coach Tim Edwards went on, "with that youth comes inexperience, and that is what hurt us today. We take away those unearned runs and mental mistakes, and those games go down to the wire."
Following Wednesday's doubleheader, MMU will battle it out early Thursday March 12th against Nazareth College (2-4) at 8:00 am CST. Then game two will pit the Blue Angels against Suffolk University (0-4) with first pitch at 10:00 am.
