CLAREMONT, Calif. – The Ithaca College softball team rounded out its California trip with a split at No. 12 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Friday afternoon.
 
Ithaca won the first game, 9-1, in six innings before falling, 3-2, in the second game of the day.
 
Game 1 | Ithaca 9, CMS 1 (6 innings)
 
The Bombers started off strong against the Athenas, posting three runs in the top of the first inning.
 
Vanessa Brown led off with a walk and made it to third on a Gabby Laccona single to center field. Abby Shields drew a walk to load the bases before Brown scored on an error for the first run of the game.
 
First-year Daniella Mulvey then drew a walk before senior Annie Cooney sent a single through the left side to bring in Shields and Laccona and take a 3-1 advantage.
 
Ithaca had another multiple-run inning in the top of the second. Nikkey Skuraton led off with a single up the middle before stealing second to put herself in scoring position. She then scored on a Brown double down the left field line, pushing IC's edge to 4-0.
 
Brown headed to third on a Laccona ground out and scored on an Alex Wright single up the middle, giving the Bombers a 5-0 lead.
 
Ithaca struck again in the top of the fourth inning. Laccona reached first on a fielder's choice play before Wright singled up the middle. Laccona crossed the plate after an error on a Shields' shot to right field.
 
The Athenas put their lone run on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning. With two outs, Megan Perron sent a double to center field before Rachel Perley drew a walk. Lexi Singh followed that up with a single to center to load the bases. Perron scored on an Ananya Koneti single to short, cutting IC's lead to 6-1.
 
The Bombers put together a three-run top of the sixth inning.
 
Skuraton led off with a single to third base and followed that up by stealing second. Brown drew a walk before Laccona reached on a throwing error, which gave Skuraton time to score.
 
Brown scored on a Wright sacrifice fly before Shields – who reached base on a fielder's choice – scored on a Mulvey single to second.
 
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps put runners on in the bottom of the sixth but left both stranded, ending the game early.
 
Brown finished 2-for-2 with three runs scored and one RBI while Wright went 2-for-3 with two RBI.
 
Emily Holden picked up her second win of the season, pitching 2.1 innings with two hits, one walk and one strike out.
 
Game 2 | CMS 3, Ithaca 2
 
The Athenas put all their runs on the board in the bottom of the second inning.
 
Koneti led off with a single to third base before Kawai Scanlan reached on a fielder's choice. Both Natalie Dale, who was pinch running for Koneti, and Scanlan stole a base and Dale was able to score on a throwing error to give CMS a 1-0 edge.
 
With two outs, Chloe Amarilla drew a walk before Molly Spaniac reached base on an interference call. A Lauren Richards single to left field brought in both Scanlan and Amarilla to give CMS the 3-0 advantage.
 
The Bombers rallied in the top of the fifth for two runs, starting with a Skuraton double down the left field line. Brown followed that up with a single to left field before stealing second to put two runners in scoring position.
 
Skuraton scored on a Laccona ground out before a Shields' single down the right field line drove in Brown, cutting the Athenas' lead to 3-2.
 
Ithaca returns to the East Coast and is back in action next weekend with a Saturday trip to Utica and a Sunday trip to Western Connecticut State.