03/03/2009
Softball Loses Two During Spring Break

CLERMONT, FLA. 03/03/09 - The Clark University softball team lost a pair of non-conference games during spring week in Clermont, Fla., on Tuesday.

Northland College of Wisconsin posted a 9-4 come-from-behind win in game one, while Lebanon Valley College (Pa.) blanked the Cougars, 3-0, in the second game.

In the first game, Clark jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the second inning on RBI singles from Maureen Coakley (Worcester, Mass.), Melissa Traft (Milton, Mass.) and Darcy Kurashige-Elliott (Berkeley, Calif.). The lead was short-lived, however, as Northland led off the top of the third with four straight singles with the final hit resulting in two runs scored and a two-run triple by Kylie Garin just three batters later giving the Lumberjacks a 4-3 edge.

Northland added a run in the fourth and extended its lead to 9-3 with four more runs in the top of the seventh. The Cougars rallied with back-to-back doubles from Traft and Elliott to score one run in the bottom of the frame, but the Lumberjack pitcher got the next three batters to ground out to end the inning.

Kurashige-Elliott went 2-for-3 with two RBI to pace Clark. Traft also collected a pair of hits in the game.

Sarah Carter (Worcester, Mass.) took the loss (0-3), allowing five runs on eight hits and fanning two.

The second game featured strong pitching from Clark's Traft and Lebanon Valley's Val Malizzia. The duo battled through three scoreless innings before the Dutchmen broke through with a pair in the bottom of the fourth (2-0) and added a run in the fifth for the 3-0 final.

Junior Lauren Blake (Oakland, Maine) and freshman Meg Lennon (Charlton, Mass.) each registered two hits in the loss.

Traft (0-3) tossed six innings of seven-hit ball for Clark.

Clark will face John Carroll of Ohio (9:30 a.m.) and Johnson and Wales University (11:30 a.m.) tomorrow.