Myrtle Beach, S.C. – In the Pride's season opener, they played a doubleheader against the King's College Monarchs and the Thiel College Tomcats. The Pride fell to King's 8-0 in six innings, but Widener defeated Thiel 14-5 in five innings.

Widener's first six regular-season games will be played in Myrtle Beach.

The Pride are 1-1 in the regular season. They have yet to see a conference opponent.

HOW IT HAPPENED AGAINST KING'S (Pa.)
Sam McCarthy had the Pride's lone hit of the game. Mikayla Fedele, who started on the mound for Widener, allowed nine hits and six runs.

The Pride got their season started with Fedele being hit by a pitch. Although she reached second base two batters later, Widener couldn't get a run on the board. The Pride, in the top of the second inning, had their first and only hit from McCarthy. It was a single to left field. Despite the offense's slow start, the Pride's defense was making plays and preventing King's from kickstarting their offense. However, the third inning was costly for Widener. King's ripped off five runs. The Monarchs hit six straight singles and one double. The Pride, though, finally got out of the inning on a pop-up to second base. After three innings, King's led 5-0.

For the last three innings of the first game, Widener was unable to get more than three batters to the plate per inning. In the bottom of the fifth, King's recorded back-to-back doubles to bring in another run. The Pride had a strikeout and a pop-up on defense to end the inning. But, the Monarchs would go on to add two final runs in the sixth. The final play of the game was a sacrifice fly to right field. The Pride lost 8-0.

HOW IT HAPPENED AGAINST THIEL
Kaylin Johnson led the Pride with four runs. Johnson, McCarthy, Fedele, and Becca Tiley had two hits each. On the mound, McCarthy went all five innings. She allowed seven hits and five runs.

After getting some women on base, the Pride scored two runs in the top of the first inning off a Tiley double. The Tomcats responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the first. Thiel was able to score two runs to take the lead in the second inning. With bases loaded, a single to left field brought the two runs in. Wanting to answer back immediately, the Pride began the third inning with a walk. A pop-up from Tiley allowed a run to score. The Pride would increase their lead even more on a single to right field and an error from Thiel. The score after three innings was Widener 5-3.

The fourth inning was where the game got out of hand for the Tomcats. Widener knocked in six runs. The Pride hit three singles, with two of them resulting in RBIs. Widener loaded the bases again, and they were able to capitalize on the Tomcats' defense. After a solid defensive effort in the bottom of the fourth, the Pride concluded their day with three final runs in the fifth. McCarthy and Tiley recorded consecutive doubles to bring in two runs. The score was 13-3 Widener. Leah DiGiandomenico was walked for a second time, which led the team in this game. Another Thiel error turned into points for the Pride. In the bottom of the fifth, the Tomcats scored two runs of their own to dig into the deficit. After getting runners on first and second base, a double brought both women home. However, the Pride ended the game with three straight outs, including one strikeout. The Pride took the second game of the doubleheader 14-5.

UP NEXT
The Pride continue their stretch in Myrtle Beach, as they take on the Kean University Cougars and the Lancaster Bible College Chargers on Tuesday. Widener will face Kean at 11 a.m. and Lancaster Bible at 5 p.m.