KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The Ursinus softball team opened its Florida Spring break trips with a pair of wins over Lebanon Valley and Penn State Berks on Saturday morning at the Fortune Road Athletic Complex.
 
 
With the wins, the Bears improved to 2-3 overall in the opening start of the season. Meanwhile, the Dutchmen fell to 5-4 and the Nittany Lions to 0-2.
 
 
Ursinus 3, Lebanon Valley 2
 
The Bears put runners on second and third with two outs before a groundout ended the potential threat in the top of the first. Lebanon Valley left runners on base as well in the first inning but broke through for their two runs on four hits in the bottom of the second to take the early lead. Ursinus got on the board with a run in the top of the fourth inning to cut the deficit down to 2-1. Senior Stephanie Wichman led off the inning with a double and advanced to third after a single from classmate Rachel Hartman. Junior Keelie Hancock drove in the run on a sacrifice fly and the Bears loaded the bases with two outs before the inning ended on a force out at second base. Ursinus delivered the decisive inning in the top of the sixth with two runs on three hits to go up 3-2. Hancock led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. After a single from junior Megan Mills, senior Samantha Mallen squeezed in the tying run with a bunt single down the line before junior Kayla Carr drove in the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly. Junior pitcher Christa Andrusiewicz retired the next six Dutchmen to preserve the win.
 
 
Ursinus 5, Penn State Berks 4
 
The Nittany Lions got on the board right off the jump in the top of the first behind a double with a runner on second base. Ursinus countered in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game when first-year Reagan Robinson tripled in Mallen, who started things with a single. Mallen once again got things rolling with a single to lead off the bottom of the third inning and following an error, Carr singled in two runs to put the Bears up 3-1. The Nittany Lions tied the game at three with a two-out two-run double in the top of the sixth inning. Hancock responded to the Berks runs with a two-out double of her own in the bottom half of the inning to give the Bears a 4-3 advantage. The Nittany Lions tied the game at four in the top half of the seventh inning from a wild pitch that came two batters after a double. Mills singled to open the bottom of the seventh inning but was forced out off a ground ball from Mallen. However, Mallen stole second and first-year Anna Evanchik delivered with a single through the right side to walk it off for the Bears.
 
 
Mallen combined to go 4-of-5 from the plate in the doubleheader with three runs scored, an RBI, and two stolen bases. Carr tallied three RBI's between the two games and Hancock went a perfect 3-of-3 from the plate against Lebanon Valley with an RBI plus run scored. Evanchik went 2-for-3 with an RBI and run scored against the Nittany Lions. Andrusiewicz earned her first win of the season behind allowing two earned runs off nine hits and a strikeout in her complete game. First-year Lucy Wolf earned the win in game two after getting the Bears out of a jam in the top of the seventh with a strikeout.
 
 
The Bears are back in action tomorrow, March 9th as they will play two more games at Fortune Road Complex starting with Washington & Jefferson at 9:00 a.m. and DeSales at 11:30 a.m.