The Mary Baldwin College softball team dropped four conference games this weekend.  On Friday, the Fighting Squirrels fell to Maryville College 0-8 in the first game and 5-9 in the twilight contest.

The Scots struck quickly when lead-off batter Megan Mihaliak tripled to centerfield.  The home team scored three runs off of five hits in the first and added three more runs in the second as they rolled to an 8-0 win.

Mihaliak gave her team a 1-0 lead in the first inning of game 2.  The Scots added a second run in the second inning when Emilie Craven scored after getting a single to left field.

After adding two runs in the third, Mary Baldwin scored in the top of the 4th when Jonquil Brown drove home Olivia Compton who had singled to centerfield.

Freshman Kristen Anderson then got her first hit of her college career when she singled moving Brown to second base.

Jaliah Graves followed with her first single and RBI when a shot to the shortstop resulted in a single while driving Brown home.

The Fighting Squirrels then held the home team scoreless at the bottom of the 4th.

Morgan Tully started the Fighting Squirrels off at the top of the 5th with a shot to centerfield marking her first college career hit.  The freshman was then thrown out on a Fielder's Choice at third but put Kayla Wheeler on first.  Errors then put Wheeler on third as Janie Brothers stepped to the plate singling to centerfield and bringing Wheeler home.

The Scots, though, refused to give up the lead answering with five runs at the bottom of the 5th. 

Mary Baldwin scored two final runs when Kayla Wheeler drove Kristen Anderson home with a single to centerfield before Olivia Compton drove Lindsey Shifflett home with a single to third base.

Head Coach Christy Shelton said after the game, "In the first game, we made too many errors to even give us a chance to compete.  We played much better in the second game.  We hit well but the one or two errors came at the wrong time and Maryville capitalized on them.  Our pitchers pitched well and gave us a chance.  Overall, neither game was a reflection of what this team is capable of doing so we will continue to improve and fix what we can."

Against preseason favorite Piedmont College the Fighting Squirrels struggled losing 10-0 and 8-0 both in five innings.

Coach Shelton explained, "In the first game, Piedmont had some timely hits.  Our defense was good but just couldn't close off the gaps in the outfield.  In the second game, we didn't handle their speed on the bases well and lost focus at critical which allowed them to either score or put runners in scoring position.  Overall, this weekend was good.  Pitching was good and the defense made some really good plays.  Our hitting was sporadic at times.  We just need to be more consisitent and timely with runners on the base."

Mary Baldwin College 0-4 (0-4 USAS) will take a short break this week before playing their home opener against Sweet Briar on Friday afternoon.