KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The Ithaca College softball team opened up it 2018 season with a split at the Sunkissed Games in Kissimmee, Florida.
 
The Bombers topped Susquehanna, 8-1, in the first game of the day before falling to Washington University in St. Louis, 11-2, in five innings.
 
Game 1 vs. Susquehanna
 
Susquehanna got on the board first early in the game, taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
 
Leigh Ann Greenwald led things off with a single to centerfield before advancing to second on a throwing error. Greenwald went on to score following a throw to second, which put out the Riverhawks' runner.
 
Another run crossed the plate for Susquehanna in the bottom of the third inning.
 
Brooke Kohler sent a single to right to get on base and was advanced on a sacrifice bunt from Emily Lear. She then scored following an error.
 
The Bombers started their rally in the top of the fourth when Vanessa Brown sent a shot over the left field fence to cut the Riverhawks lead to 2-1.
 
Hannah Anderson followed that up with a single to centerfield and advanced to second on an Alex Wright single to center. Abby Shields drove in Anderson to tie the game, 2-2, but IC was not done.
 
Following a pitching change, Annie Cooney drew a walk which loaded the bases for Ithaca.
 
Shields and Emily Bloom, who was pinch running for Wright, both scored on a right-field sacrifice fly from Frankie-Ann McCauley, which made the score 4-2 in favor of the Bombers.
 
Nikkey Skuraton sent a single to left field which brought in Cooney for the final run of the inning.
 
Ithaca added three more runs in the top of the sixth inning. Cooney started the inning after reaching on an error and advanced to third base following a McCauley single to second.
 
Skuraton drove in Cooney for the second time on the day with a single to short stop. Gabby Laccona made the score 8-2 with a double to center, bringing in Skuraton and McCauley.
 
Game 1 vs. Washington University in St. Louis
 
In the second game of the day, Washington University came out to score six runs in the first inning to take an immediate lead.
 
Taylor Arends singled to get on base before advancing to second on an error. Her hit brought in Amy Walsh, who got on base after being hit by a pitch.
 
Three more runs came in for the Bears on a Maggie Clapp double to left, which brought in Hera Tang, Arends and Ashley Madsen.
 
Mikaela Arredondo and Natasha Remakrishnan both drew walks and scored, along with Clapp, on a Josi Elder hit, which gave Washington U a 6-0 lead.
 
The Bears brought in two more runs in the third inning. Ramakrishnan started things off with a single to left and eventually crossed the plate for the bears. Mackenzie Gauden sent a shot to second base which brought in Walsh, pushing Washington U's advantage to 8-0.
 
Ithaca's first run crossed the plate in the bottom of the fourth inning. Gabby Laccona singled to center and advanced to third on a Vanessa Brown hit. Laccona scored following a short stop error.
 
In the top of the fifth inning, three more runs scored for the Bears. Tang sent a shot to left field, which brought in Gauden, who walked during her at-bat.
 
Arends, who singled to center field, scored on a Julia Flores hit to center. Tang rounded things out for the Bears by scoring on a Clapp single to right.
 
Ithaca pushed across another run in the bottom of the fifth, but it was not enough to stage a comeback.
 
The inning started with an Annie Cooney single to short which she followed up with a steal to second. A Nikkey Skuraton hit advanced Cooney to third base and Cooney made it home on an Allie Colleran grounder.
 
The Bombers are back in action tomorrow afternoon at 3:45 against SUNY Plattsburgh. IC has a short break in between before they take on SUNY Oneonta at 6 p.m.