Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Game 1 | Game 2
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Nazareth gained its first softball victory of the season Monday as the Golden Flyers rallied from an early deficit to defeat Mount St. Mary, 8-1. The Golden Flyers also lost to Curry College in the second game by an identical 8-1 margin.

In the opening game, sophomore Carly Pike went 3-for-3 with two runs scored and a run batted in and junior Sophia Rhoades drove in two runs with two hits and a sacrifice fly to spearhead Nazareth's nine-hit attack. Freshman Mary Greco made her pitching debut and scattered six hits over seven innings and struck out two.

After Mount St. Mary scored in the first inning, Nazareth rallied for two runs each in the second and third innings and then broke the game open with four runs in the fifth. Pike and Rhoades each singled in the second inning and later scored. Pike came home on an infield grounder by Shauna Bardanis, while Rhoades scored on an error. In the third, Morgan Ross led off with a double and scored one out later on a double by Sarah Cipperly. Two batters later, Rhoades singled hom Cipperly with Nazareth's fourth run.

Nazareth scored four times with three hits in the fifth. Pike had a run-scoring single that chased home Kailey Ritch, who led off the inning with a base hit. After walks to Maureen Rogers and Cipperly, two runs came home on a sacrifice fly by Rhoades. Bardanis then followed with an RBI double.

In the second game, Nazareth was held without a hit until the seventh inning, when Cipperly singled home Ross, who reached on an error to open the inning. Curry, meanwhile, built an eight-run lead with two runs in the second inning, five more in the sixth and one in the seventh. Nicole Bayona pitched for Nazareth and allowed seven earned runs on three hits and six walks.

Nazareth plays two more games Tuesday -- North Park, Ill. and Elms -- at 9 and 11 a.m. respectively.