The Colgate softball team was very busy during spring break, first playing in the George Mason Tournament in Fairfax, VA and then taking on George Washington and Lehigh at the end of the week. In the tournament, the Raiders won three of their five games. They then defeated GW in their first game of the double-header, but unfortunately lost their second game along with their three games against Lehigh.

In their first game against the GW Colonials, the Raiders came out on top after strong pitching by sophomore Brigit Ieuter as well as strong hitting all around. The first inning ended scoreless, but in the second inning sophomore Mariel Schlaefer hit a home run with two outs to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead.

GW came back in the bottom of the third with a home run, but first-year Katie Bushee registered another home run shortly thereafter to regain the lead for Colgate, bringing the score to 2-1.

In the top of the seventh, senior Jennifer Martin hit a double to add an insurance run after sophomore Marisa Dowling got on base, securing the 3-1 win for Colgate.

In the second game, Colgate earned an early lead in the second inning when senior Haley Fleming brought junior Kate Zucker home with a single. However, GW came back and took the lead in the fourth inning, followed by a huge fifth inning earning them seven runs and ultimately securing the 9-1 win

over Colgate.

The Raiders then made their way to Bethlehem, PA to take on the Lehigh Mountain Hawks in a three-game series. In the opening game, Lehigh had a big win over Colgate despite an early 1-0 lead for the Raiders thanks to a home run by Dowling. Lehigh finished with a 26-1 win over Colgate.

In the second game of the day, Colgate brought more competition to the field. In the first inning, after Bushee singled to center field and then stole second,  Schlaefer bunted to move Bushee to third base. Bushee was brought home in the next at bat with a single by Dowling, giving the Raiders an early 1-0 lead. Unfortunately, the Mountain Hawks registered four runs in the bottom of the inning to take the lead and bring the score to 4-1.

In the top of the second inning, after a single and two stolen bases by senior Tera Vaughn, first-year Alex Wilson brought her home with single up the middle. The Raiders came back to tie it up in the top of the sixth, starting with a double from Wilson which put her in scoring position. Zucker moved Wilson to third with a bunt, followed by a double by Bushee to bring Wilson home. Dowling then singled to center field to bring home Bushee and tie the game at 4-4.

After a close opportunity to score again in the sixth inning, Colgate could not manage to rack on another run. Lehigh scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the sixth after a sacrifice bunt, ending the game with a 5-4 win.

The next day, Colgate and Lehigh met on the field for the final game of the series. After getting a runner on base in the first inning, Colgate was unable to score. In the bottom of the inning, Lehigh scored two runs, getting them on their way to a 6-0 lead by the end of the third inning.

In the top of the fifth, the Raiders scored their first run. Wilson singled to get on base, and Martin brought her home with a double to left center, making the score 6-1. Finally, in the seventh inning, Colgate rallied to score three more runs. Bushee tripled to center field with two runners on base, bringing them both home. On the next play, Schlaefer hit a fly to bring Bushee home, but it was not enough to defeat Lehigh, ending the game with a score of 6-4.

Next weekend, the softball team will host an ALS fundraiser called Dodge for a Cure on Saturday at 12 p.m.. They will face against the Army Knights twice at the Eaton Street Field with the first game Saturday and the second Sunday at 12 p.m..