FORT MYERS, Fla. - The Rockford University softball team continued its spring trip on Tuesday morning with games against Drew University and Wentworth Institute of Technology. The opening game did not go well for the Regents as they fell 9-1 in five innings to Drew University. However, Rockford bounced back nicely with an impressive 6-4 comeback win against Wentworth.
Rockford found itself with an early 1-0 lead over Wentworth after the Regents plated a run in the bottom of the first inning. The Regents strung together back-to-back one-out hits from Alexandra Storey (Dexter, Mich.) and Stefaney Kenworthy (Veedersburg, Ind.) putting runners on second and third for the heart of their order. Junior Brittany Bura (Chicago, Ill.) then drove in the game's opening run with a sacrifice fly putting Rockford in front 1-0 after an inning of play.
However, that lead would be short lived as Rockford promptly surrendered 4 runs in the top of the second inning. Wentworth tied the game at 1-1 by stringing together a trio of hits before the Regents made a costly error in the infield which would have ended the inning, but instead allowed three more runs to score and gave the Leopards a 4-1 lead.
The Regents answered back with a single run in the bottom of the second inning closing the gap to just two runs. Abigail Wellwood (Rockford, Ill.) put down a beautiful suicide squeeze to score Maranda Walker (Rockford, Ill.) who executed a perfect slide and touched home plate with her hand just prior to be tagged by the Wentworth catcher.
The score would remain 4-2 until the bottom of the fourth inning when the Regents tied the game. Just like earlier in the game it was once again Maranada Walker who got the offense started as she led off the inning by getting hit by a pitch. Two batter later sophomore Ali Moore (Mascoutah, Ill.) crushed a home run over the left center field wall making it a 4-4 game.
The very next inning Rockford took advantage of a pair of Leopard errors to retake the lead. Sarah Moritz (Heyworth, Ill.) drove in her first run of the season with a one-out RBI single into center field scoring Bura and giving the Regents a 5-4 lead. Two batters later Wellwood reached on Wentworth's second error of the inning allowing Walker to score as the Regents grabbed their largest lead of the game at 6-4.
Junior pitcher Brittany Bura took it the rest of the way holding the Leopards scoreless for the final two innings to secure the win. It was Bura's second complete game of the season and her second win of the year as well. The junior allowed just 1 earned run while striking out 3 and walking none. The Chicago native now holds a 2-1 record with a sizzling 1.47 earned run average.
Earlier in the day Rockford dropped a tough game, 9-1 to Drew University. Sloppy defense once again hurt the Regents as a pair of errors allowed the Rangers to score 6 unearned runs. Offensively Brittany Bura continued her torrid hitting as she went 2-for-2 with a double and a run scored. Maranda Walker drove in the only run of the game for Rockford with her third double of the season.
The softball team will be off on Wednesday before returning to the diamond on Thursday, March 12 for a pair of games. The Regents will open with Emmanuel at 9 AM EST before taking on Saint Joseph's at 11 AM EST.
