NAPLES, Fla. (March 11, 2016) – The Drew University softball team rebounded from a walk-off loss with a resounding 11-0 victory to earn a doubleheader split on the final day of the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic in South Florida on Friday.
 
Freshman pitcher Bethany Budner improved to 5-1 on the season, hurling a one-hit shutout against Wheelock College (0-4). The rookie pitcher lowers her already sparkling ERA to 1.39. Earlier in the day in Game 1 against Rockford University (1-8), Budner had an RBI single before the Rangers (6-4) erased a 2-0 deficit in the top of the seventh. Tied at 2-2, Rockford walked off with an RBI single in the home half of the seventh.
 
Freshman center fielder Katie Grodski was 3-for-4 during the doubleheader with a run and two RBIs. She has now hit in five straight games.
 
Rangers' Final Inning Rally Spoiled by Rockford Walk-Off
 
Junior pitcher Emma Agostini had a nice bounce back game in the circle for the Rangers, holding Rockford to two runs on four hits through six inning, giving the Rangers the chance to stay in the game.
 
Uncharacteristic to what they've shown during Spring Break, the offense was off to a slow start against the Rockford starter. It took until the final at-bats of the game to get runners across the plate. Grodski led the charge with a leadoff double to the right centerfield gap before sophomore second baseman Danielle Martinez followed with a single to advance Grodski and set runners up at the corners with no one out.
 
Budner, who earlier in the game picked up her first collegiate base hit, got her second in RBI fashion to cut Rockford's lead in half, 2-1. Drew would score the tying run with the aid of a Regents error as Martinez crossed to plate to knot the score at 2-2.
 
Rockford rebounded quickly with a hit to leadoff the innings, and after a fly out and two walks to load the bases with one out, the Regents walked off winners with a single up the middle.
 
Well-Rounded Run Support for One-Hit Shutout by Budner vs. Wheelock
 
Sophomore catcher Heather Ronchi reached base all four times (2-for-2, 2 walks) and was one of four Rangers to knock in a pair of runs in the five-inning, 11-0 victory over the Wildcats. Joining Ronchi in the two-RBI department was Grodski, Martinez and freshman third baseman Sammie Booth.
 
The top of the lineup did their job getting on base and scoring runs as positions one through four all scored two runs: junior right fielder Phylicia Pellot, junior shortstop Meghan McGuire, Ronchi and sophomore Lauren Mastropierro.
 
The Rangers got their first run of the contest on a wild pitch in the second, which would be all Budner needed in the circle. She faced one batter over the minimum in her five innings of work, allowing just one hit while striking out four. Budner raises her K total to 21 in her six appearances.
 
Drew ran away with five runs in each the third and fourth innings, and playing as the home team, needed just three more outs in the top of the fifth to end the game early on the eight-run rule. Budner and her defense recorded a 1-2-3 to end the Spring Break trip to Florida on a winning note.
 
The Rangers fly home Saturday, exactly a week before their next doubleheader. Drew travels to Susquehanna University to open Landmark Conference play on Saturday, March 19 beginning at 1:00 p.m.