Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

Mt. Pleasant, SC – The Wagner College softball team opened its season at the C of C Cougar Classic Friday evening, dropping games to College of Charleston and Charleston Southern. The host Cougars defeated the Seahawks in the first game, 4-1, before falling to the Buccaneers, 9-1, in a five-inning contest.

In the first game, the Cougars jumped ahead to a 2-0 lead on a pair of runs in the second inning. The Seahawks looked to answer in the top of the third, as singles by senior Carley Nicoletti (Plainville, NY/ C.W. Baker) and freshman Brenda Bott (Fountain Valley, CA/ Fountain Valley), around junior Kristen Matteoni (Reno, NV/ Galena) reaching on a fielder's choice, put the Seahawks in a bases-loaded, two-out opportunity. Wagner was unable to push a run across in the frame, though, and C of C answered back with two more runs in the bottom of the frame to take a 4-0 lead.

The Seahawks cut into the lead in the fifth, when Nicoletti singled with one out, and later came around to score on a Matteoni single for the final 4-1 margin.

Senior Judy Betz made the start in the circle for Wagner, going 5 2/3 innings before giving way to sophomore Olivia Zwick (Surrey, British Columbia/ Earl Marriott) for the final out.

The night's second game against Charleston Southern began with a three-run first from the Buccaneers, giving CSU a 3-0 advantage that would hold until the third inning, when the Seahawks pushed across a run to pull within 3-1. Junior Hayley Sullivan (Bakersfield, CA/ North) reached base after being hit by a pitch, and went first-to-third following a single by sophomore Kelsey Parker (Lynnwood, WA/ Lynnwood). With runners at the corners, senior Brittany Huss (Anthem, AZ/ Boulder Creek) came through, driving in Sullivan for the Seahawks' first run of the game.

CSU would strike for six runs in the bottom half of the fifth, ending the game with a 9-1 advantage.

Sophomore Samantha Bedker (Phoenix, AZ/ Sandra Day O'Connor) made the start for Wagner, going the first four innings while striking out eight. Zwick entered in relief for 2/3 of an inning.

The start of Friday's doubleheader was originally scheduled for 4:00 pm, but moved up Friday morning to begin at 2:00 pm. A rain delay totaling four hours and 15 minutes pushed the actual start time to 6:15 pm.

Wagner returns to action at the C of C Cougar Classic on Saturday, Feb. 23, with another doubleheader. The Seahawks will face South Carolina at 10:00 am, followed by a game with College of Charleston at 12:00 pm.