Buzzards Bay, Mass. and West Hartford, Conn. - The Norwich Softball Team dropped a pair of doubleheaders to Massachusetts Maritime Academy and Mitchell College this past weekend.  

Against Massachusetts Maritime Academy (MMA) on Saturday March 25th, the Cadets fell to the Bucs by scores of 1-10 and and 0-10.  In the bottom of the first inning, MMA drew a walk by the leadoff batter who subsequently stole second and then a double brought home the run to give the Bucs a 0-1 lead.  The Game remained 0-1 until the bottom of the fourth inning when the Bucs offense erupted for seven runs, helped by a pair of early errors by the Norwich defense.  The Cadets would get on the board in the top of the fifth inning as Julia Vawter (Pelham, N.H.) ground into a fielder's choice which brought home Sydney Wood (Proctor, Vt.). In the bottom of the sixth, the Bucs would add one more run to finish out the scoring for the two teams.  Brook Pawlowski was the only Cadet with multiple hits on the day, going 2-for-3 from the plate.  

In the second game of the Saturday doubleheader, the Bucs jumped out to a 0-8 lead after an explosive second inning.  The Bucs again benefited from a pair of errors and a wild pitch that brought in the initial runs of the inning while also allowing the inning to continue.  MMA added two more runs in the next inning bringing the score to 0-10 which would be the final.  The tough pitching from MMA limited the Cadets to only three hits on the day.  

In the first game of the Sunday doubleheader, Mitchell College's (MC) offense was successful early and throughout the game while scoring in each inning.  The Mariners scored two runs in each the first and second inning before having a big seven run third followed by four more in the fourth.  The Cadets opened their scoring in the top of the third inning to bring the game to 1-4.  Vawter singled to start the third inning and was moved to second base when Rachel Kempf (Warwick, R.I.) ground to the second basemen.  Liliana Rolfe (Plainville, Mass.) had a two-out single that advanced Vawter to third.  Vawter alertly scored on a Mariner error and Rolfe took second.  Unfortunately, a groundout two batters later halted the Norwich offensive momentum and ended the inning.  Kempf would score the other Cadet run in the top of the fifth  after reaching on an error and eventually being driven in by a Rolfe double.  For the game, Rolfe was 2-for-3 with an RBI, Vawter was 1-for-2 with an RBI and run scored, while Kempf had a run scored as well.  In total, MC had 15 hits in the 2-15 win over the Cadets in the first game.

The final game of the weekend again saw the Mariners offense score early en route to a 2-13 win.  After surrendering four runs in the bottom of the first inning, the Cadets took advantage of a couple of Mariner miscues to get on the board.  Maren McGinn (Georgia, Vt.) opened the top of the second inning by reaching first base on an error.  The Cadets then perfectly used some small ball to move McGinn to third base before a Kempf ground ball led to a Mariner error which brought home McGinn.  The Mariners added two runs in the bottom of the second inning and seven more in the third.  The Cadets rally fell short as they could only add one more run in the top of the fifth with McGinn hitting a hard ground ball which brought home Charlotte Charbonneau (West Springfield, Mass.).  The Cadets were led by McGinn who was 1-for-3 with an RBI and run scored.  Charbonneau was the only other Cadet credited with a hit on the day also going 1-for-3.

The Cadets will be on the road for two more doubleheaders next weekend.  Saturday April 1st the Cadets will travel to Rivier University then University of Saint Joseph on Sunday.