The softball team was defeated by Bowdoin College in its first three games of New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) play this past weekend. In the first match-up in Brunswick, Maine, the Mules were knocked out 5-1, while in the next two games at home, the Mules fell 4-1 and 9-5.

On Friday, April 8, Colby faced off against the Polar Bears in the first contest of the weekend and of its season. Pitcher Lauren Becker ’13 threw a complete game but the Bowdoin women proved to be too much for the Mules to handle. Bowdoin’s Toni DaCampo rocketed a pitch out of the park for a three-run home run in the fifth inning, adding the final tally for the Polar Bears.

Bowdoin contained the Mules’ offense for the majority of the game, but Colby pulled together in the seventh inning to tally a run. Although Barbara Santos ’11 was able to score off of an error, Colby stranded three runners on base in the final inning was left with the four-run deficit. Katie Graichen ’12, Santos, Brianne Wheeler ’14, Jen Goldman ’12 and Lindsay Peterson ’13 recorded hits in this season opener.

In the next two games against Bowdoin at home in Waterville, Maine on April 9, Colby suffered a similar fate. In the first game, like the day before, the Mules were unable to string their hits together as they stranded 11 runners on base. More positively, Peterson got on base with a double in the sixth inning before scoring off of a single from Graichen, and Alyssa Lepore ’11 hit her 29th career double.

The Mules’ efforts on offense were strongest in the final game of the weekend, but the nine runs scored by the Polar Bears in the opening four innings were too much to overcome. Lepore once again led the Mules by example as she hit a three-run homer, which placed her one shy of the 100 career hit mark. Graichen, who is batting a team-high .421 this season, had two hits and two runs. Santos and Becker each added one hit and one run to the tally.

As she reflected upon the weekend, Goldman said, “We established a new team dynamic and played some really solid defense, and once we string some hits together at the right time we'll be looking at a really promising rest of the season.” This week, Colby is scheduled to play Maine Maritime Academy on April 12, Thomas College on April 14 and Trinity College on April 15 and 16.