COLLEGEVILLE, PA – The Ursinus softball team struggled at the plate and dropped their opening Centennial Conference Tournament game 3-0 to Swarthmore on Thursday afternoon at the Snell Softball Field.
 
 
The game remained scoreless until the top of the fifth inning when a pair of two-out singles by the Garnet brought in two runs to give them their first lead of the game. Swarthmore added one more run in the top of the sixth off a double with one out. Sophomore Samantha Mallen recorded the Bears first hit of the contest with one out in the bottom of the sixth and stole second base for her 37th swiped bag of the season. However, Ursinus was unable to advance a runner past second base for the entirety of the contest. Senior Amanda Panati drew a leadoff walk in the seventh but was quickly retired in a double play on a sharp lineout. First-year catcher Kayla Carr kept the game going with a two-out single before a fly out to center ended the game.
 
 
 
First-year Christa Andrusiewicz started the game in the circle for the Bears and tossed three scoreless innings before yielding to classmate Riley Coneeny. Coneeny was saddled with the loss after allowing all three earned runs on five hits with two strikeouts in three innings. Andrusiewicz pitched the seventh and finished the game with two strikeouts. Swarthmore's Emily Bertrand went the distance for the win and allowed just two hits in seven shutout innings with four walks and one strikeout.
 
 
 
The Bears will now look to keep their season alive on Saturday, May 6th as they will host Dickinson in an elimination game at 11:00 a.m. at the Snell Softball Field. Swarthmore will take on Washington College, who defeated Dickinson 7-5 earlier today, 30 minutes following the Bears-Red Devils game.
 
 
The remainder of the Centennial Conference Tournament will now be held at the Snell Softball Field.