ORLANDO, Fla. - The Monmouth University softball team dropped its first two games at the University of Central Florida/Courtyard by Marriott Invitational III, falling to Florida A&M, 5-4 and Virginia Tech, 15-5 on Friday afternoon at the UCF Softball Complex.
The Hawks fall to 3-3 on the season and have now dropped three straight after winning their first three contests of the year.
In its first game of the day against the Rattlers, sophomore Kate Kuzma (Freehold, N.J. /Colts Neck) gave MU a 2-0 lead with a two-run homer, her second of the season, in the top of the second inning. FAMU equaled the game in the bottom of the frame and took a one-run lead in the fourth after an Erika Garcia RBI-triple.
Tish Derer (Philadelphia, Pa. /Saint Basil Academy) laced a run-scoring single, plating Chelsea Paprocki (Manassas Va./Forest Park), to tie the game at 3-3 in the top of the fifth. Florida A&M plated two runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 5-3 lead, and MU would tack on one more in the seventh when Christine Scherr (Nazareth, Pa. /Nazareth Area) tripled and scored on a wild pitch.
Derer, Kuzma and Scherr all collected two hits in the game for Monmouth. Junior Lauren Sulick (Canfield, Ohio /Canfield) took the loss, her first of the season, after surrendering three earned runs in six innings pitched. She struck out and walked four batters, apiece, while allowing five hits.
In their second game of the afternoon, the Hawks jumped out to a 5-0 lead on the Atlantic Coast Conference's Hokies in the top of the first inning. VT ended the game in five innings after outscoring MU 15-0 over its four plate appearances.
Emily deLong (Rothschild, Wisc. /DC Everest) went 2-for-2 with a run scored, while Kaitie Schumacher (San Diego, Calif. /Scripps Ranch) went 2-for-3 with a run scored. Senior Dara Palms (Humble, Tex /Humble) took the loss against Virginia Tech, giving up five runs, three of which were earned, and three hits in an inning pitched.
MU returns to action tomorrow when it faces South Alabama at 11:30 am and the host Knights at 4:00 pm.
