HART THROWS GEM TO LEAD BRYANT PAST UNLV, 2-1 SATURDAY IN SAN DIEGO

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Behind a phenomenal effort on the mound from senior Brittany Hart (North Andover, Mass.), the Bryant University softball team defeated UNLV, 2-1, Saturday morning at the San Diego Classic II.

Hart threw 6.2 innings, allowing just a single run to cross home plate while picking up her fourth win of the season. Freshman Elle Madsen (Wheat Ridge, Colo.) completed the effort for the Bulldogs, picking up her first career save.

The Bulldogs got on the board first in the top of the second inning when a Christina Eringis (Tewksbury, Mass.) singles plated Taylor Bell (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) as Bryant opened up a 1-0 advantage through two. The Running Rebels evened the score in the bottom of the fourth off a sacrifice fly, however a Mollie Anderson (East Greenwich, R.I.) single in the top of the sixth scored junior Kendall Corder (Carmichael, Calif.), which proved to be the game winner for the Black and Gold.

Juniors Lauren Guy (La Habra, Calif.) and Aubrey Mable (Aurora, Colo.) each posted  a pair of hits for Bryant, with Guy picking up the lone Bulldog double of the game.

GAME TWO

The University of San Diego broke a 1-1 tie with three runs in the fifth inning and handed the Bulldogs a 5-1 defeat on Saturday afternoon. 

With the score tied in the fifth, the Toreros plated three runs on three hits. Morgan Kurtz started the inning with a single up the middle and advanced to second on a one-out walk. Caitlin Rooney then broke the deadlock with an RBI single to left-center and Kylie Ordos made it 3-1 with an RBI bunt. 

San Diego then put the game away with a single run in the sixth on two Bryant errors. The Bulldogs commited back-to-back errors to put runners on the corners and Chloe Kaneko capped the Toreros scoring with an RBI ground out.

Trailing 1-0 in the third, the Bulldogs put together a great team inning to tie the game at 1-1. Amy Weinberg (Pleasant Valley, N.Y.) walked to start the inning and pinch-runner Alicia Mosesso (Abington, Mass.) moved to second on a sac bunt. Mosesso scored two batters later as Guy's ground ball to short was thrown away.

Weinberg and Corder had Bryant's only hits on the afternoon, while senior Jennifer Jacob (Deer Park, N.Y.) suffered the loss, allowing five runs on 10 hits over five innings. Madsen tossed two scoreless innings of relief, allowing just one hit.

The Bulldogs will now return to New England and open their 2013 home slate with a doubleheader against Stony Brook on Wednesday, March 20. First pitch is at 2:00 p.m. 

For all the latest news on the Bryant University softball team, visit BryantBulldogs.com.