OWENSBORO, Ky.—University of Southern Indiana Softball had a pair of four-run first innings Saturday as it went 1-1 to open the Blue Bridge Battle at the Kentucky Legend Fields at Jack C. Fisher Park.

The Screaming Eagles (2-5) scored four times in the bottom of the first inning of their opener, but Cedarville University scored four unanswered runs to win, 5-4. USI scored four times in the top of the first inning en route to a 8-1 victory over Lake Erie College in the nightcap.

USI had five players with at least three hits on the day, with freshman centerfielder Mackenzie Bedrick (Brownsburg, Indiana) going 5-of-9 at the plate with three runs scored and three RBI.

Cedarville 5, USI 4
Cedarville (1-0) got a solo home run off the bat designated player Arica Flaugher to lead off the top of the seventh inning and break a 4-4 tie.

The Eagles had runners at first and second in the last half of the seventh, but could not push the tying run across the plate as they suffered the one-run loss.

After committing three first-inning errors to fall behind, 1-0, USI had five straight batters reach base in the bottom of the first inning to surge in front, 4-1. Senior outfielder Alicia Webb (Elberfeld, Indiana) had an RBI-double, while freshman designated player Lexi Fair (Greenwood, Indiana) had a two-run single.

Cedarville, however, answered with a big inning of its own in the top of the second as three walks, including a free pass with the bases loaded, and a two-run double led to a three-run frame and a 4-4 tie.

Sophomore pitcher Allie Goodin (Evansville, Indiana) was charged with the loss after giving up five runs, four earned, off seven hits and three walks. Goodin (1-4) had seven strikeouts in the loss.

USI 8, Lake Erie 1
USI scored four runs in the top of the first and three in the top of the fourth en route to an 8-1 win over Lake Erie in its nightcap. The Eagles had four straight hits to start the inning and five in the first six at-bats.

Webb had an RBI-single to put the Eagles on the board in the first, while sophomore catcher Sammie Kihega (Greenfield, Indiana) had a two-run double to put USI in front, 3-0. Goodin capped the first-inning scoring off with an RBI-triple.

Kihega, who went 3-for-4 with four RBI in the nightcap, had a two-run single in the Eagles' three-run fourth inning. The Eagles had four hits in the inning, including an RBI-single by sophomore second baseman Rachel Martinez (Chicago, Illinois).

Lake Erie (1-3) took advantage of a two-out error to score a run in the home half of the sixth inning, but a lead-off single by Goodin in the top of the seventh led to another tally as junior pitcher Elissa Brown (Brownsburg, Indiana) picked up an RBI.

Junior pitcher Katie Back (Indianapolis, Indiana) earned the win after holding the Storm to just four hits in four scoreless innings of work. Back (1-1) struck out four batters before giving way to Brown (1), who earned the three-inning save after giving up an unearned run off three hits and two strikeouts.