MELBOURNE, Fla. – The Spring Arbor University softball team closed out its time at The Space Coast Spring Games in Florida on Friday with a pair of tough losses, falling 3-2 in eight innings to Hastings College before dropping a 5-1 decision to Bismarck State College.
 
The Cougars move to 9-5 overall on the season.
 
 
Game One | Hastings 3, SAU 2 (8 Innings)
 
Spring Arbor struck first in the third inning when Anna Kemp came around to score on a double by Brooke Meeker to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead.
 
Hastings responded with a run in the bottom half of the inning to even the score, and the game remained deadlocked through the seventh. SAU pitcher Emilee Underwood was strong in the circle, holding the Broncos scoreless for four straight innings and allowing just one hit during that stretch to send the game into extras.
 
With the international tiebreaker rule in effect, Meeker delivered again for the Cougars, singling to center to score the go-ahead run.
 
The Broncos answered in their half, however, tying the game before delivering the walk-off hit with two outs to secure the 3-2 victory.
 
Meeker led the offense, going 2-for-4 with two RBIs, while Taylor Clark scored a run and added a stolen base. Underwood went the distance, allowing just two earned runs over 7.2 innings while striking out nine.
 
 
Game Two | Bismarck State 5, SAU 1
 
Spring Arbor grabbed an early lead in the nightcap when Grace Lentz drove in Summer Ambler in the bottom of the first inning.
 
Ava Poulson silenced the Mystics' offense through the first five innings, but Bismarck State capitalized on a Cougar miscue in the sixth, scoring five runs in the frame to take control of the game.
 
Clark went 2-for-2 with a run scored to lead SAU offensively while Ambler and Nicole Barbeau each recorded a hit.
 
Spring Arbor returns home to open Crossroads League play on Tuesday, Mar. 10 with a doubleheader against Taylor University beginning at 3 p.m.