Box Scores: Game 1 | Game 2

HAMPTON, Va. – The Hampton University softball team lost its doubleheader to Colgate on Friday afternoon at Lady Pirates Field, dropping the first game 11-2 in five innings before falling 6-2 in the second game.

The Raiders struck first in the first game, plating three runs in the top of the third inning. Jen Ortega popped a home run over the center field wall for the game's first run, before Colgate scored two more runs on consecutive wild pitches to give the Raiders a 3-0 lead.

The Lady Pirates (3-9) answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning, when Tamara Vickers (Lawndale, Calif.) drove home Jada Jeffries (Lithonia, Ga.) on a triple to right-center field, before scoring herself on a throwing error.

Colgate scored five times in the top of the fourth inning, highlighted by a two-run double from Ortega and an error that resulted in two more runs. Two more runs in the fifth inning, including an RBI double from Melissa Babb-Renta, pushed the game to its final margin.

Jesse McCarrick went five innings for the Raiders (2-0) in the first game, giving up just three hits and striking out three. Ortega was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate, driving in three runs and scoring three times herself.

Vickers, Jeffries and Bre'Anna Brown (Los Angeles, Calif.) each had a hit for the Lady Pirates.

Ortega picked up right where she left off in the second game, singling home a run in the first inning to put the Raiders up 1-0. That score held until the fifth inning, when Babb-Renta singled home a run to put Colgate up 2-0.

A four-run sixth inning broke the game open for the Raiders, after Ortega led off the frame with a double, stole third base and scored on a throwing error. Natalie Siedhof then doubled home a pair of runs, before Alana Dyson singled home yet another run to put Colgate up 6-0.

Rebecca Magett (Grand Rapids, Mich.) doubled to center field to open the bottom of the sixth inning, after which Kelsei Saunders (Suffolk, Va.) cracked her first home run of the season to cut Colgate's lead to 6-2.

Brittany Hanrahan went 3-for-4 at the plate for the Raiders, as did Siedhof, who drove in a pair of runs. Ortega went 2-for-4 in the second game, driving in another run and scoring once. Courtney O'Connell went the distance on the mound, giving up six hits and two earned runs, striking out three and walking one.

Saunders led the Lady Pirates with a 2-for-3 effort at the plate, including her two-run home run.

The Lady Pirates return to action on Saturday, when they will hold the annual Alumni Game at Lady Pirates Field at 12 p.m., before heading to Fairfax, Va. on Tuesday and Wednesday for a pair of games against George Mason.

For more information on Hampton University softball, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.