NAPLES, Fla. – The Clark University softball team (0-2) opened their 2023 campaign with a pair of games at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic and fell in both contests to Pitt-Bradford (1-2) and Alverno (1-1) on Sunday afternoon from the North Collier Sports Complex.

Clark fell 13-4 in game one and 10-9 in game two.  

Game One: Pitt-Bradford 13, Clark 4

• Junior Samantha Crowley and graduate student Kaylee Gibson got on base in the first inning, but were left on base as Pitt-Bradford retired the next two hitters.
• Senior Nicole Buckley took the bump for Clark in the first inning and got out of a runner on third situation by forcing a groundout as the game stayed 0-0.
• First-year Magdalena Barthel reached first on a single and scored the Cougars first run of the year off a wild pitch as Clark led 1-0.
• After the Panthers tied the game in the bottom of the second, Clark added three runs sparked by runs scored by Crowley and senior Eliza Lindberg on wild pitches as well as a single up the middle from junior Rebecca Mauro to push the lead to 4-1.
• Pitt-Bradford answered with eight runs in the bottom of the third before senior Natalie Stilwell singled and reached second, but was left on base in a 9-4 contest.
• The Panthers extended their lead with four more runs in the bottom of the fourth and Barthel reached base in the top of the fifth for Clark, but didn't come around to score as the Cougars fell 13-4.
• Crowley went 2-3 with a run scored, Mauro went 1-3 with an RBI, and Gibson reached base twice.

Game Two: Alverno 10, Clark 9

• After Alverno scored four runs in the top of the first, Mauro answered with a single through the middle that scored Gibson and Crowley as Clark trailed 4-2 after one inning of play.
• First-year Brooke Buzzeo got out of a bases loaded jam on the mound in the top of the second and the Cougars got runners on second and third, but were unable to bring the runners home.
• Alverno added another run in the top of the third and the top of the fifth to take a 5-2 lead before Clark erupted for 5 runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 7-6 lead sparked by RBI's from Mauro and first-year Keira Langus as well as runs scored by Mauro, Gibson, and Langus.
• Langus shut down the Cougars in the sixth inning and Clark answered two more runs in the bottom of the sixth as Gibson belted a double to left center and Gibson scoring on a wild pitch to push the lead to 9-6.
• Alverno answered with four runs in the top of the seventh to take a 10-9 lead and Lindberg got on base with a walk and advanced on a wild pitch, before the next two Clark batters were retired as the Cougars fell.
• Crowley went 2-4 with three runs scored, Gibson went 2-2 with three runs scored, Mauro went 1-3 with three RBI's, Langus pitched five innings and only allowed two runs.