NAPLES, Fla. – The Drew University softball team lost a pair of close one-run decisions on Thursday during the team's next-to-last day of its spring break trip to the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic in Florida.
 
The Rangers lost by a score of 4-3 to both Bethany College and SUNY Cobleskill.
 
Freshman Sloan Walmsley finished the day 4-for-7 for Drew (6-2) while senior Haley Meierhofer went 3-for-7.
 
Against Bethany, the Rangers led 2-0 after four innings, with junior Kaitlynne Streets in the pitching circle. Senior Aurora Marino drew a bases-loaded walk in the third before Meierhofer singled in a run in the fourth.
 
The Bison took the lead with a three-run fifth that made it 3-2 and added an insurance run in the seventh. The Rangers threatened in the bottom of the seventh, when senior Olivia Magliacano walked and moved to second on a passed ball. Sophomore Gabby Duran walked before freshman Sophie Beshear singled to load the bases, but Bethany starter Trinity Edge struck out a pair of batters to end the game.
 
Meierhofer and Walmsley collected two hits apiece for Drew while Streets worked six innings before junior Allie Porbansky came on to pitch in the seventh.
 
Against Cobleskill, the Rangers broke out to a 3-0 lead, scoring once in the first and twice in the second, including another RBI-single from Meierhofer. But the Fighting Tigers rallied with a single run in each inning from the third through the sixth.
 
Walmsley followed up with another two-hit showing at the plate while senior Amanda Novak threw all six innings for Drew, striking out three.
 
Drew closes out its Florida trip on Friday, when it takes on Westfield State University at 9 a.m. and Crown College at 11 a.m.