CLERMONT, Fla. – The Thiel College softball squad opened its 2011 season Sunday with a pair of losses at the National Training Center (NTC) Spring Games in Clermont, Fla. The Tomcats suffered an 8-0 six-inning setback in game one against 20th-ranked Emory University before falling 12-11 in game two to Case Western Reserve University.

Tied 0-0 after three innings Emory (12-0) scored a pair of runs in both the fourth and fifth before registering four in the sixth. Kristen Moreland (Dover, Ohio, Dover) was saddled with the loss, surrendering eight runs on 12 hits with four strikeouts and three walks. Ashley Dolan (Export, Pa., Franklin Regional) was the lone Tomcat to secure a hit in the game one loss.

Thiel (0-2) jumped out to a 7-0 first-inning lead before Case tied the game in the bottom of the third. After a back-and-forth affair through the middle innings Case broke the tie in the seventh, winning on a walk off home run.

Becky Betteridge (Conneaut, Ohio, Conneaut) finished 2-for-3 with a grand slam and five RBI. Laura Davin (Bethel Park, Pa., Bethel Park) went a perfect 5-for-5 at the plate while Melissa Rankin (Scenery Hill, Pa., Bentworth) finished 3-for-5 with four RBI and three doubles. Moreland, who entered the game in relief of Ali House (Liberty, Ohio, Liberty) and Jen Kumar (Oakmont, Pa., Riverview), suffered the loss on the mound.

Thiel looks to rebound Monday with games scheduled against The College of New Jersey (9:30 a.m.) and Moravian College (11:30 a.m.).