WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - The Bloomsburg softball team dropped a pair of close games at the Florida Spring Games on Thursday. 

The Huskies lost in heartbreaking-fashion in the first game of the day against PSAC foe IUP, with the Crimson Hawks winning on a walk-off hit in a 1-0 defeat.

Bloomsburg found itself in a second close contest in its second game of the day against Purdue Northwest, falling 2-0 in a tightly-contested matchup.

Bloomsburg falls to 8-6 overall on the season. IUP improved to 12-5 following the contest as the Pride moved to 13-10 after its first game of the afternoon.

Game One: 
In game one against the Crimson Hawks, neither team could muster much offensive momentum throughout the day. Between the two sides, the first 18 batters of the game were retired in order. Sarah Yamrick (Fort Myers, Fla./Bishop Verot) recorded the first hit of the contest with a single into left field.

IUP broke up Callie Sowers' (Irwin, Pa/Hempfield Area) no-hit bid in the bottom of the fifth with a lead-off single from Paige Truax. Sowers worked around the runner advancing to second via a sacrifice bunt to leave the runner in scoring position and keep the game knotted up at 0-0 after five innings. 

The Huskies got a lead-off single from Gianna Gombeda (Hazleton, Pa./Hazleton) in the top of the sixth, with pinch runner Mary Stork (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa) able to move to third off a sacrifice bunt and fly. Bloomsburg abandoned the runner following a fly out to center.

Sowers worked around a lead-off single and passed ball in the bottom portion of the sixth to give the Huskies another chance offensively to grab the lead. Despite getting another runner on scoring position in the seventh, with two outs, Bloomsburg could not overcome the margin for error.

The Crimson Hawks would seal the game in the bottom of the seventh, with the PSAC rival finding just enough room in the outfield with two outs and winning off a ball escaping the extended reach of Jayla Bartholomew (Williamsport, Pa/Williamsport) in right field.

Despite taking her first loss of the season, Sowers had another strong performance on the mound, pitching 6.2 innings, giving up just four hits and the one run while recording seven strikeouts. 

Game Two: 
In game two, Purdue Northwest got on the board early to take a 1-0 lead. The Pride's Kylie Dugan hit a one-out double before being sent around on a single from Selena Michko. Timely defense allowed the Huskies to throw out Michko at second, as starting pitcher Kelly Eberly (Purcellville, Va/Homeschooled) escaped the inning giving up the one run while striking out two. 

In the bottom half of the first, Yamrick looked to start a two-out rally with a single to the left side of the field. Despite getting into scoring position from a wild pitch, the Huskies could not capitalize and even up the game.

Eberly would provide Bloomsburg with tremendous support from the mound in the second game of the day. After allowing a run and two hits in the first, the Purcellville, Va. native surrendered just one hit and a single walk through five innings while notching an additional seven strikeouts. 

The Huskies managed to get several hits and runners in scoring position in the ensuing innings but continued to stack hits together in order to generate run support. 

Purdue Northwest doubled its advantage with a solo home run in the sixth inning to grab what would prove to be a definitive 2-0 lead. 

Kayleigh Lenner (Sunbury, Pa./Shikellamy) looked to spark a seventh-inning comeback for Bloomsburg after reaching base from a lead-off single but three consecutive outs by the Pride wrapped up the action.

Eberly finished the day on the bump tossing 7.0 innings, giving up the two earned runs along with six hits. The junior struck out the second-most batters in a single game during her time with Bloomsburg. 

On the Horizon: 
The Huskies wrap up their spring-break road trip with a doubleheader against Bowie State on Saturday, March 16, beginning at 12:00 p.m.