USCB softball suffered its first defeat of the season Saturday, splitting a pair of pitching duels at Middle Georgia State.
Playing on the road for the first time this season, the Sand Sharks dropped a 2-1 decision to the Knights in the opener before winning the second game by the same score.
A pair of USCB errors opened the door for Middle Georgia to plate a pair of runs in the third inning of the opener, and the Sand Sharks stranded the tying run at third in the seventh.
The defensive miscues spoiled another strong outing from Maria Molloseau, who allowed two unearned runs and three hits over six innings while striking out five. Emily Martin was 2-for-3 to lead the USCB offense in the opener.
In the second game, the Sand Sharks did all of their damage in the fourth inning, when a Knights error allowed Haley Hawkins to reach with two outs and opened the door for a two-run rally. Martin followed with an RBI double to score Hawkins, then came around to score on Jodi Hatcher’s two-out, RBI single.
USCB made the lead stand up, as Rachel Catt limited the Knights to one run and four hits over 5 1/3 innings to earn the win, and Molloseau retired the last five batters to nail down the save. Kaleigh Furbush was 2-for-3 for USCB.
UP NEXT
USCB (9-1) faces Freed-Hardeman at noon Friday to open the Reinhardt Invitational in Waleska, Ga.