<b>LowcoSports.com</b>

USCB softball suffered its first defeat of the season Saturday, splitting a pair of pitching duels at Middle Georgia State.<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span>

Playing on the road for the first time this season, the Sand Sharks dropped a 2-1 decision to the Knights in the opener before winning the second game by the same score.<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span>

A pair of USCB errors opened the door for Middle Georgia to plate a pair of runs in the third inning of the opener, and the Sand Sharks stranded the tying run at third in the seventh.<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span>

The defensive miscues spoiled another strong outing from Maria Molloseau, who allowed two unearned runs and three hits over six innings while striking out five. Emily Martin was 2-for-3 to lead the USCB offense in the opener.<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span>

In the second game, the Sand Sharks did all of their damage in the fourth inning, when a Knights error allowed Haley Hawkins to reach with two outs and opened the door for a two-run rally. Martin followed with an RBI double to score Hawkins, then came around to score on Jodi Hatcher’s two-out, RBI single.

USCB made the lead stand up, as Rachel Catt limited the Knights to one run and four hits over 5 1/3 innings to earn the win, and Molloseau retired the last five batters to nail down the save. Kaleigh Furbush was 2-for-3 for USCB.

<b>UP NEXT</b>

USCB (9-1) faces Freed-Hardeman at noon Friday to open the Reinhardt Invitational in Waleska, Ga.