The Monmouth College softball team opened their season on Saturday with a pair of neutral site losses. The Fighting Scots (0-2) had their games moved from Fontbonne University to the turf of Plummer Family Field in Edwardsville, Illinois due to inclement weather.
Monmouth started the day against Franklin College. Calista Warmowski (Spring Grove, Illinois) led off the first inning with a single, stole second and eventually scored on a throwing error. Pitcher Abby Leber (Tremont, Illinois) blanked Franklin over the first four innings but the Scots couldn’t add on to the 1-0 lead.
Franklin scored six runs, against three different pitchers, in the fifth inning. They added three more in the sixth inning to finish off a 9-1 win. Leber (0-1) took the loss, allowing two runs on six hits over four innings while striking out four.
In the nightcap, Greenville scored seven runs in the top of the first inning, four unearned. They had a 3-run homer and a bases-loaded triple in the inning. The Panthers scored four more in the fourth and one in the fifth to run-rule the Scots 11-0. Freshman Elizabeth Durfee (Arlington, Washington) got the start and took the loss for Monmouth.
In the double header, Warmowski led the Scots with three hits and a run scored. Olivia Ridley (Chatham, Illinois), Madelyn Belville (Rushville, Illinois) and Elisabeth Shick (Kansas, Illinois) all had two hits on the day. Seven of the 11 batters that played in the double header had at least one hit. Anna McCarty (Decatur, Illinois) and Kayleigh Cobb (Pawnee, Illinois) pitched in both games with McCarty covering five innings.
The Scots play two more games in Edwardsville on Sunday. They will face Defiance College at 11 a.m. followed by a 1 p.m. game against Carroll University.
***Courtesy of Nathan Baliva, Monmouth College***
