College Softball Finals – Guilford Splits On First Day of Myrtle Beach Trip

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Marty Wilcox homered and Maggie Shaffer fanned nine in Guilford College’s 3-1 softball win over Lasell College. The victory snapped a losing streak that reached seven games after the Quakers (10-8) lost to Frostburg State University, 11-3 in five innings, earlier Tuesday at Grand Park.

The Lasers (0-6) struck first in the second game as catcher Nicole LeBlanc’s two-out single in the first scored Amanda Szidat. Shaffer yielded another single to Michaela Grady, but fanned Emily DeAngelis to get out of the inning.

Guilford tied the game in the top of the third when Cynthia Hayes scored off an errant throw by LeBlanc. Hayes doubled and scored another unearned run in the fifth inning after a wild throw by pitcher Alison Saluti. Wilcox, who also doubled in the game, led off the sixth inning with her second homer of the season, a shot to straightaway center. Wilcox, Hayes and Autumn Yoder each had two hits for the Quakers.

After the rocky start, Shaffer (2-3) settled into a groove. The Lasers threatened in the third after LeBlanc’s two-out double put runners on second and third, but the rookie registered another key strikeout to end the inning. Shaffer retired Lasell’s last seven batters in a row and 14 of the last 15.
The Quakers started the day much like the morning weather, cold and breezy. The Bobcats (6-3) took advantage of five Guilford errors, four wild pitches and two walks to score 11 runs in the first three innings. Caitlin Lovend and Sharti Beavers both homered in Frostburg’s five-run second inning, which chased Guilford starter Ashley Boteler (1-1).

Guilford’s Casey Snead entered in relief and struck out six in 3.2 innings, but the Quakers’ bats could not overcome the early deficit. Calli Pastor had two of Guilford’s seven hits and the team’s lone run batted in.

Lovend went 3-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored. Teammate Taylor Vandergrift also had three hits, scored three times and added two RBI. Bailey Ellsworth and Megan Butzer had two hits apiece. Mary Ann Moore (3-2) fanned four and scattered seven hits for the victory.

Guilford meets Frostburg State again Wednesday (3/20) morning at 9:30 a.m. at Grand Park and closes out the varsity portion of its spring break trip versus Rutgers University-Newark at 1:30 p.m.

Game 1

                        1  2  3  4  5   R   H  E
   Frostburg State      3  5  3  0  0  11  12  1
   Guilford             1  2  0  0  0   3   7  5

Win – Moore (3-2). Loss – Boteler (1-1). Save – None.
Umpires – HP: Jim Tallman 1B: Tommy Campbell
Start: 9:35 am Time: 1:31 Attendance: 50
Weather: cloudy, windy, 47
Game notes:
Nonconference game
Fastpitch Dreams Classic
Game: GCS-17

Game 2

                        1  2  3  4  5  6  7  R  H  E
   Guilford             0  0  1  0  1  1  0  3  8  1
   Lasell               1  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  5  3

Win – Shaffer (2-3). Loss – Saluti (0-2). Save – None.
Umpires – HP: Dewey Capps 1B: Milt Sanderson
Start: 1:28 pm Time: 1:22 Attendance: 50
Weather: 65, sunny, breezy
Game notes:
Nonconference game
Fastpitch Dreams Classic
Game: GCS-18