FT. MYERS, Fla. - Sophomores Kat Roland (Norton, Mass./Fontbonne Academy) and Ashley Pinkham (Center Barnstead, N.H./Kingswood) tossed back-to-back shutouts Friday as the Plymouth State University softball team wrapped up the week with a pair of victories in the annual Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic.

            The Panthers blanked the University of Wisconsin Superior 1-0 in the opener, and downed St. Lawrence University 8-0 in the nightcap.  PSU pitchers have tossed three straight shutouts and four in the last six games.  After dropping its first two games on the Florida trip, PSU has won eight straight contests and returns to New England with an 8-2 record.

            Roland scattered three hits and a walk for her second shutout of the season in the first game, striking out six UW-Superior batters.  The Yellow Jackets had runners at third base in the first and sixth innings but couldn't get them home.

            The Panthers scored the only run of the game in the fourth inning when freshman Andrea Pydynkowski (Danvers, Mass.) and senior Ashley Fleming (Farmington, Conn.) singled, and after an infield out, sophomore Jenna George (Cumberland, R.I.) delivered a two-out RBI single.  Fleming finished with two hits in the game.

            Pinkham allowed two hits and a walk while striking out two St. Lawrence batters to record her first career shutout in the nightcap.  The Panther offense took advantage of several SLU miscues to score eight runs on just six hits.  Freshman Melissa Caiazzo (Portland, Maine) went 3-for-5 with three runs batted in, and George was 1-for-2 with two walks and three runs scored.

            The Panthers return to New Hampshire this weekend and resume game action next Saturday, Mar. 29, with the Little East Conference opener at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (1:00 p.m.)

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