Hamilton College dropped two non-conference games at Lee County Field in Fort Myers, Fla., on March 21.
Hamilton (2-6 overall) was edged 5-4 by the University of New England in the first game of the day. SUNY Brockport defeated the Continentals 8-4 in the afternoon.
Against UNE (6-4), Ellie Kiernan '15 went 2-for-3 with a triple and a run batted in for Hamilton. Melissa Kaknis '13 went 2-for-4 with a double and drove in two runs. Olivia Gozdz '16 was 2-for-2 with a double and Sarah Moore '16 had a two-base hit. Monique St. Jarre '15 started in the circle and took the loss after she pitched 2.1 innings.
The Continentals grabbed a 1-0 lead in their first at-bat. Kiernan led off with a single to center field, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on Kaknis' double to left.
UNE answered with three runs in the bottom of the second inning, but Hamilton cut it to 3-2 in the third. Kiernan hammered a one-out triple to left field and scored on Kaknis' single to center.
The Nor'Easters scored a run in the bottom of the inning, but the Continentals pulled within 4-3 in the fourth. Moore led off with a double to right field. Gozdz followed with a single, but Moore was thrown out. Gozdz went to second on the throw and scored on a single to left by Amy Appel '13.
UNE regained its two-run lead with one in the fifth inning, only to have Hamilton rally again in the top of the sixth. Gozdz laced a one-out double to center field, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on Kiernan's sacrifice fly to left that made it 5-4. The Continentals put a runner on base in the seventh, but they were erased by a game-ending double play.
Against Brockport (3-6), Kaknis went 3-for-4 with a double, and Jenn Rougeux '14 was also 3-for-4. Gozdz went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Kelly Leonard '15 allowed five earned runs on 10 hits, walked three and struck out five in six innings.
Hamilton jumped on top early again with two runs in the first inning. Rougeux bunted for single with one out and went to second base on Kaknis' single to left field. A single by Sam Miller '14 loaded the bases, and Gozdz plated Rougeux with a base hit to center. Leonard drove in Kaknis with a groundout to second base.
The Golden Eagles responded with five runs in the bottom of the first and led the rest of the afternoon. The Continentals got one back in the fourth. Gozdz led off with an infield single, went to second on Leonard's sacrifice bunt and scored on a throwing error by the first baseman.
Hamilton pulled within 5-4 in the sixth inning. Gozdz led off and reached on a throwing error by the second baseman. She then made it all the way to third base on Leonard's sacrifice bunt, and scored on Appel's single to center field. Brockport clinched the win with three runs in the bottom of the inning.
The Continentals take on the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth and the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh for more non-conference action on Friday, March 22.
