Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 LITTLE RIVER, SC – The Rowan University softball team opened the season with wins over Grove City College, 6-4 and Rosemont College, 14-0 in five innings on Friday.  The Profs have a six-game slate at the Fastpitch Dreams Spring Classic. 
 
Right-hander Beth Ann Hyland (jr. East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick) was the winning pitcher versus Grove City.  She threw six innings, scattered seven hits and allowed three earned runs.  Hyland struck out nine batters.  Rookie Rachel Gagliardo (fr. Plainsboro, NJ/West Windsor-Plainsboro S.) pitched the final inning for her first collegiate save.  Righty Erika Aughton (so. Moon Twp., PA/Moon) had the loss.  In seven innings, she gave up 12 hits and five earned runs. 
 
Designated player Ashley DeYoung (jr. Oakland, NJ/Indian Hills) was two for four at the plate with one double and one RBI.  Catcher Morgan Smith (fr. Millsboro, DE/Sussex Central) contributed with two hits (four at bats), a double, one RBI and one run scored.  Second baseman Alysa Romero (sr. Newfield, NJ/Vineland) produced two hits, one double in four at bats and scored two runs.  Center fielder Shannon Costello (sr. East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick) and first baseman Damariz Mercado (so. Bloomfield, NJ/Bloomfield) each registered one hit and one RBI.  Costello's hit was a double and she scored one time.  Left fielder Mia Baldassari (fr. Hopatcong, NJ/Morris Knolls) added one hit and one run.
 
The Wolverines led 1-0 after the first inning when Aughton scored on shortstop Kelsey Shirey's (sr. Macedonia, OH/Nordonia) single.  The Profs went up 6-1 after three runs in the fourth and fifth innings.  Romero led off with a double in the fourth.  She went to third on Smith's hit and stole home.  Costello knocked in a run with a double and she scored on a single by Mercado.  In the fifth, DeYoung had a RBI double and pinch runner Rosalie Hood (fr. Egg Harbor City, NJ/Cedar Creek) came home on an error.  Romero scored on Smith's double to left field.  Grove City trailed 6-4 after three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
 
Against Rosemont, right-hander Allison Nolan (jr. Middletown, NJ/Middletown S.) was the winning pitcher.  In three hitless innings, she recorded five strikeouts.  Righty Ashley Lesch (fr. Rockaway, NJ/Morris Knolls) was on the mound for the final two innings.  She did not surrender a hit and had four strikeouts.  Maggie Miller (jr. Doylestown, PA/Central Bucks W.) took the loss. 
 
Baldassari paced Rowan with two hits (two at bats), three RBIs and two runs scored.  She posted a double and a triple.  DeYoung totaled four RBIs, a double and one run scored.  Right fielder Alyssa Sims (jr. Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill W.) went three for three with a triple, one RBI and two runs.  Mercado collected two RBIs, two runs scored and a double. 

Third baseman Jessica Phillips (sr. Woolwich, NJ/Kingsway Reg.) chipped in with one hit, one RBI and one run scored.  Smith had two hits (three at bats), one RBI and one run.  Shortstop Shilah Snead (jr. Malaga, NJ/Delsea Reg.) scored two runs.   
 
On Saturday (March 7), Rowan plays Penn State Harrisburg at 11:30 a.m. and Hilbert College at 3:30 p.m.