The inaugural season of NYU’s varsity softball program got off to a rocky start this weekend as the team lost their first four games in Clermont, Florida.

The Violets opened the season scoreless against Elizabethtown College, losing 7-0 on Saturday. Freshman pitcher Sage Scheiwiller got the start for the Violets but was pulled in the fourth inning after allowing seven runs, only four of which were earned. Sophomore pitcher Jacqueline Tremblay shut Elizabethtown down for the rest of the game.

The Violets’ bats never came alive as the team only managed to get two hits, one of which was a triple by Scheiwiller in the fifth.

They were able to manage five runs in the second game, but still could not come away with the win, dropping their second game 8-5. NYU allowed one run at the top of the first, but answered in the bottom of the inning with two runs of their own. Emerson responded with four runs at the top of the second against Tremblay. The Violets played even with Emerson for the rest of the game, and came away with the loss.

After the two losses, infielder Kahala Bonsignore Jr. focused on how the team has already begun to improve on the field.

“I think we were all really excited to get out onto an actual field to play,” Bonsignore said. “Our nerves got the better of us in our first game. Our second game we came out with so much more intensity, and we really started to prove to ourselves our potential as we get more experience on
the field.”

The Violets continued to fight for their program’s first win, but fell short in both of their Sunday games. In the team’s weekend of firsts, sophomore infielder Molly Webber picked up the program’s first home run with a three run bomb, helping the team to a good start against Transylvania University. The team could not get any runs across after the first, and the Pioneers handed the Violets their third loss 6-3.

In the last game of the road trip, the Violets fell to Thiel College 7-6. It was the closest game of the weekend. NYU capitalized on three Thiel errors in the second and fifth innings. In the top of the seventh, the Violets made a comeback scoring twice and tying the game 6-6 off of a double by Bonsignore and single from Val Schwein. However, their rally was not enough as the Tomcats responded in the bottom of the inning with three hits of their own that drove home the winning run, defeating the Violets 7-6.

A version of this article appeared in the Monday, March 9 print edition. Email Kyle Luther at [email protected].