BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University Softball team split a TCCC doubleheader against Gordon College Friday evening, dropping the first game 5-6 in eight innings and winning the second 4-1.

 

Gordon began the game with two runs in the first, off of RBI hits by Kim Levinsky (West Caldwell, N.J.) and Lindsay Knuckles (Charlotte, N.C.). Christine Bean (Southampton, Mass.) got one of those runs back for the Hawks in the second, scoring from third on a double steal.

 

The third inning saw the Fighting Scots notch two more runs on the board. Sara Giberson (Hingham, Mass.) scored Knuckles on an infield hit, while Kristen Terry (Chalfont, Pa.) later scored on a wild pitch. In the bottom half of the inning, Samantha Teves (Somerset, Mass.) knocked in Callie Nealon (Hopkinton, Mass.) and LeEllen Lewis (Brunswick, Md.) with a two-RBI double to pull the Hawks within three.

 

The Hawks took their first lead of the game in the fourth on two runs by Jen Lyford (Raynham, Mass.) and Michelle Caprice (Oak Ridge, N.J.), taking a 5-4 advantage. Yet Levinsky's RBI single knotted the game at five, eventually sending the game into extra innings. Gordon wasted little time getting a run, as Levinsky led off the eighth with an RBI triple to score the game-winning run.

 

Stephanie Collins (Burlington, Mass.) took the loss, allowing two runs in 5.1 innings of relief for Alexandra Sera (Newton, Mass.), who allowed four runs in 2.1 innings of work. Sarah Grimes (Terryville, Conn.) pitched all eight innings for her sixth win of the year.

 

Offensively for the Hawks, Lewis was 2-for-3 at the plate with a run scored, while Teves went 1-for-3 with a pair of RBI. Levinsky finished the game 4-for-5 with three RBI.

 

The second game opened with a pair of impressive pitching performances, as RWU's Andrea Gregory (Toms River, N.J.) and Gordon's Leah Granat (Long Valley, N.J.) held the opposition hitless over the opening three innings. It took four and a half innings for the first run to score, as Teves, Bean, and Kerry Burke (Old Saybrook, Conn.) notched RBI hits in the fifth to give RWU a 3-0 lead.

 

Both teams traded runs in the sixth, when Gordon's Amber Harris (Concord, N.H.) singled to center field to score Knuckles and Gregory knocked in Lewis in the bottom of the frame. Gregory pitched a 1-2-3 seventh to earn her ninth win of the year, striking out five and allowing one run. Granat gave up four runs in six innings in the loss.

 

Gregory picked up two hits and an RBI in the game, while Knuckles went 2-for-2 with a run scored for Gordon.

 

Roger Williams (18-20, 12-10 TCCC) plays its final home game of the season tomorrow against the University of New England at 1:00 p.m. while Gordon (12-20, 11-11 TCCC) closes out the season on the road against Anna Maria College at 1:00 p.m.