LEESBURG, Fla. - The Bowdoin softball team opened the season with a pair of hard fought losses in a 9-8 game against Amherst and 7-5 game against Keene State.

The Polar Bears fall to 0-2 to begin the season after travel issues plagued the beginning of the team's Florida trip. Amherst improves to 6-1, while Keene State improves to 3-5.

Game One Highlights

• The Polar Bears held an 8-3 lead going into the bottom of the seventh against Amherst.
• Bowdoin opened the game with a run in the top of the first as Caroline Rice tagged an RBI single to left, scoring Ali Miller.
• Emily Griffin drove in a run in the following inning, slapping a ball towards short, before Rice cranked a three-run blast to put Bowdoin ahead 5-0.
• Amherst responded in the bottom half of the inning, scoring on an RBI single to left by Annie Murphy.
• Miller collected a pair of RBI in the fourth off a double to center and Marisa O'Toole drove in her first run of the season with a single to left.
• The final eight runs of the game were scored by Amherst with two in the fifth and six in the seventh.
• Miller went 4-for-4 at the plate with two RBI. Rice went 2-for-4 while driving in four runs.
• Griffin pitched five innings for the Polar Bears and allowed seven hits and three runs with a pair of strikeouts and walks. Samantha Roy suffered the loss in the circle with 1.2 innings of work and six runs allowed.

Game Two

• Keene State took an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first, capitalizing on a pair of errors.
• Bowdoin responded with a five-run second inning. Allison Rutz doubled to center, driving in a pair of runs, and Jordan Gowdy tagged an RBI single to right. Miller and Rice both drove runs for the Polar Bears before Keene State could escape the inning.
• The Owls scored a pair of runs in the fifth inning, cutting Bowdoin's lead to 5-4. Keene State took the final lead of the game behind a three-run sixth inning that the Polar Bears could not answer.
• Rutz led Bowdoin with a pair of RBI and suffered the loss in the circle with 5.2 innings pitched. Rutz allowed five hits and seven runs while collecting three strikeouts and two walks.

Up Next

• Bowdoin plays Endicott tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. in Leesburg, Florida before taking on Arcadia at 10:30 a.m.