DAHLONEGA, Georgia -- The Lake Erie softball team kicked off their 2024 season with a road trip to compete against #1 North Georgia, UNC Pembroke and Lenoir-Rhyne. Despite played each team very competitively, the Storm dropped all four games to start the season.


GAME 1
LAKE ERIE - 2 
NORTH GEORGIA - 6

The Storm kicked off their season with a matchup against the No.1-ranked, and defending NCAA DII National Champions, North Georgia.

Graduate student, Carly Rowland, got the start on the mound and took the Nighthawks down 1-2-3 to kick off the game. She held them to just one run over her first four innings of work, giving up just two hits while striking out one and walking another.

Emma Spahr led off the fifth inning with a single and and advanced to second on a sacrifice by Adrianna Sluga. Brynn Gillen advanced her to third with a single of her own and was brought home by an Arianna Tammaro sacrifice fly to tie the game at 1-1.

The Nighthawks offense came alive in the bottom half of the inning when they tagged Rowland for five runs.

The Storm got one of those runs back in the top of the 6th with a Spahr single through the right side which scored Jasmine Gonzales.

North Georgia would close things out in the 7th and hand the Storm a tough 6-2 loss.

CJ Garcia went 3-for-3 on the day joining Spahr with multiple hits in the game. Freshman Baeleigh Burwell had her first collegiate appearance on the mound in the seventh, pitching an inning, surrendering zero hits, walking one and striking out one as well.

WP: Aniston Wright (2-0)
LP: Carly Rowland (1-0)


GAME 2
UNC PEMBROKE - 4 
LAKE ERIE - 2

The Braves combined for three hits and a walk in the top of the second inning to get things going in game two. They added one more run in the fourth to extend their lead to 4-0.

The Storm were held scoreless for the first five innings of play but finally put together a rally in the bottom of the sixth. Emma Spahr got things going with a pinch hit double in the gap in right centerfield and advanced to third with a single by Peyton Powers. Brynn Gillen pinch ran for Powers and successfully pulled off a double steal with Spahr for the team's first run of the game.

Lillian Campbell extended the inning with a walk and Jordyn Long followed by bringing home Gillen with a single to left field.

The Braves were held scoreless in the seventh but Lake Erie was unable to rally, resulting in a 4-2 loss to close out the day.

The Storm struggled offensively outside of the sixth inning, totaling just three hits in the game and striking out 15 times. Bridget Mullholand, who got the start on the mound, surrendered just two earned runs over five innings and freshman Sydney Murray impressed during her first two collegiate innings pitched, giving up just one hit, one walk, and striking out one in the process.

WP: Summer Bullard (1-5)
LP: Bridget Mullholand (0-1)


GAME 3 - 9 Innings
LAKE ERIE - 5
UNC PEMBROKE - 8 

The Lake Erie offense came out swinging hard in the rematch against the Braves. Jasmine Gonzalez, Lillian Campbell, and McKenna Miller each singled in runs in the bottom of the first with Miller's single accounting for two of the four runs.

UNC Pembroke got on the board in the top of the fourth with an early three-run home run. Sydney Murray got the start on the mound and was relieved by Bridget Mullholand in the fifth.

Ava Scott drove in a run on a fielder's choice in the bottom half od the inning but the Braves tied the game up at 5-5 during the next half inning.

With the score still tied, the game went into extra innings. Both teams went down 1-2-3 in the eighth.

The Braves capitalized off of two miscues from the Storm and put together a double and a single to score three runs in the inning. This was all they needed as they closed out the game with a 8-5 victory.

Gonzales, and Campbell both recorded two hits in the contest and Arianna Tammaro swiped her first stolen base of the season.

WP: Kinsley Sheppard (2-3)
LP: Bridget Mullholand (0-2)
SV: Summer Bullard (1)


GAME 4
LAKE ERIE - 2
LENOIR-RHYNE - 3

The Storm wrapped up the UNG Leadoff Classic with a matchup against the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears.

Lenoir-Rhyne put together a pair of singles and stolen bases to get on the board first with a run in the second inning. The Storm responded three innings later with help from an Emma Spahr home run and an Arianna Tammaro triple.

With Lake Erie up 2-1 in the fifth, the Bears tied the game up in the bottom half of the inning.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Bears started things off with a walk. Starting pitcher Carly Rowland would then strike out the next two batters and get the Storm one out away from going into extras.

The runner on first would steal second during the next at-bat and was brought home with a single shortly after, giving the Bears a 3-2 walk-off win.

Adrianna Sluga went 2-for-3 in the game, and Spahr's home run in the fifth now gives her a four-game hit streak to begin the season.

Rowland finished with 6.2 IP, five hits, three runs and seven strikeouts.

WP: Brooklin Heavner (2-0)
LP: Carly Rowland (0-2)

The Storm will be back in action March 9th when they compete in THE Spring Games.