GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Colgate softball team scored nine runs in the final four innings to capture a 9-3 victory over Georgetown in the Raiders' season opener Friday afternoon at the USC Upstate/Furman Classic. Colgate then suffered a 3-2 extra-inning loss to Furman in the day's nightcap as the Paladins scored three unanswered runs in the nine-inning battle.
 
First-year Jordan Miller, junior Holly Geranen and senior Katie Bushee recorded three RBI apiece in the two games combined to lead the Raiders. Junior Kyle Griswold earned the win in the circle in the day's opener, while first-year Jessica Hay was credited with a save.
 
Georgetown put the first run on the board in the bottom of the third inning of the day's opener on an RBI single from Hannah Ramsey. The Raiders answered with a three-run rally in the top of the fourth as senior Tara Grennan sent a one-out single up the middle before first-year Virginia Irby and sophomore Meghan Romero drew walks to load the bases. Bushee then drew an RBI base on balls before Geranen sent a two-run single down the left field line to give the Raiders a 3-1 lead through three and a half.
 
The Hoyas got a run back in the bottom of the frame to pull within 3-2, but the Raiders put up another crooked number in the top of the fifth. A pair of hit by pitches and another walk helped Colgate load the bases before Miller drew an RBI base on balls and Bushee followed with a sacrifice fly to extend Colgate's lead to 5-2.
 
An RBI double from sophomore Lauren La Terra added another Raider run in the sixth. The Raider offense kept rolling in the top of the seventh thanks to RBI from Miller, Bushee and Geranen. Hay then kept Georgetown scoreless in the bottom of the frame to secure the 9-3 Colgate victory.  
 
Senior Gillian Murray got the starting nod in the day's nightcap and fired four one-hit innings to keep the game scoreless before the Raider offense was able to break through in the top of the fifth. Sophomore Pami White opened the frame with a solo homer down the left field line. Grennan reached on a wild pitch before Miller smacked an RBI double down the left field line to give Colgate a 2-0 lead.
 
Murray kept the Paladins off the board until the bottom of the seventh when Furman used a pair of solo home runs to knot the score at 2-2 and send the game to extra innings.
 
Furman threatened in the bottom of the eighth with two runners on and one out, but first-year Brittany Bendel got the Paladins to line into a double play to end the threat. The Raiders put runners on the corners in the top of the ninth, but weren't able to find the go-ahead run.
 
Furman capitalized in the bottom of the ninth as a walk and single were followed by a game-winning RBI base hit from Brittany Houston that secured a 3-2 Paladins victory.
 
BOTTOM LINES

• Colgate 9, Georgetown 3
• Furman 3, Colgate 2 (9 innings)

 
WON-LOST RECORDS

• Colgate sits at 1-1 after opening day action.
• Georgetown drops to 0-6 after the 9-3 loss to the Raiders.
• Furman improves to 2-5 on the season.

 
KEY RAIDER INFO

• The Raiders won their season opener for the first time since 2010 when Colgate beat Hampton 11-2.
• Eight different Raiders recorded hits during the day, while three turned out multi-hit performances.
• Five different players knocked in runs.
• La Terra finished the day with three hits, two of which were doubles, while White and Geranen added two knocks apiece.
• Griswold finished with a line of three earned runs on six hits with three strikeouts in 5.0 innings to earn the victory.
• Hay fired 2.0 one-hit frames to earn her first career save.
• Murray fired 6.0 scoreless frames before surrendering two runs in the bottom of the seventh. She finished with a line of two runs on five hits with one strikeout in 6.2 frames.

 
FACTS & FIGURES

• Colgate finished the day with 11 total hits, five of which were extra-base knocks.
• The Raiders stole six bases in their eight attempts. Bushee and Irby both finished the day with two stolen bags.

 
 
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Melissa Finley

• "I thought overall we had a strong start to our season despite coming up short in the second game. We did a great job of generating runs in the first game and put pressure on their defense. Overall, it was a team win and everyone contributed to do their part."
• "The second game was exciting and we had some big plays and timely hits, but unfortunately we didn't get the result that we wanted. We learned a lot and enjoyed the battle, but want to come back out tomorrow and get after it again."
• "Gillian (Murray) had an outstanding performance tonight and its too bad that we couldn't get the run support for her."

 
UP NEXT

• The Raiders wrap up their season-opening weekend at the USC Upstate/Furman Classic with two more games Saturday.
• Colgate will face Towson at 3 p.m. before taking on USC Upstate at 5 p.m.
• Live stats will be available for both games and more information can be found at Game Central.