BRIDGEWATER, Va. – Penn State Altoona softball opened its 2020 season on the road Saturday afternoon, suffering a pair of losses to non-conference opponent Bridgewater College at Fulk Field.

Bridgewater (2-0) took game one 10-0 in five innings, then won game two 9-1 in six innings.

Penn State Altoona (0-2) worked off the rust, managing one run on five hits and committing five errors as the Lady Lions had their first experience outdoors this year.

"We looked like a team that has not been outside on dirt until today," said Penn State Altoona head coach Joe Merilli. "I thought about midway through the second game, we started to play better. We will hit as we see more live pitching outside. We also were without a few players today. We will regroup and head to Florida in two weeks and get this very young team some more experience before conference competition starts."

Game One: Bridgewater 10, Penn State Altoona 0 (F/5 innings)

Makenzie Lukehart (Utahville, PA/Glendale) had two of Penn State Altoona's three hits in the game, going 2-for-2 at the plate. Kristen Hewitt (Coalport, PA/Glendale) was 1-for-2.

Jayde Burge (Philipsburg, PA/Philipsburg-Osceola) started in the circle and pitched three innings. Olivia Miller (West Newton, PA/Yough) followed, tossing her first collegiate inning.

Bridgewater grabbed a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second, scoring one run on an error and another on a run-scoring groundout.

The Eagles followed that with a seven-run third inning. Katie Merhout's RBI double preceded back-to-back bases loaded walks drawn by Katrina Martin and Brooklynn Fridley. Kaitlyn Tirona's two-run single and Sarah Wimer's RBI base hit made it 9-0.

Bridgewater tacked another run on to its total in the fourth, when Sydney Layman's solo home run put her team up 10-0. The game concluded after four-and-a-half innings, via the eight-run rule.

Game Two: Bridgewater 9, Penn State Altoona 1 (F/6 innings)

Madison Lucas (Philipsburg, PA/Philipsburg-Osceola) went 1-for-2 with the bat, while Brooke Colledge (Everett, PA/Everett) was 1-for-3. Miller recorded her team's lone RBI, and Lukehart scored the run.

Lukehart started at pitcher, going two innings. Burge tossed three innings in relief, allowing no earned runs and recording one strikeout.

Bridgewater jumped on Penn State Altoona early, putting up four runs in both the first and second innings.

Two-run homers by Martin and Keirsten Kennedy put Bridgewater on the board in the bottom of the first. In the second, Martin knocked her second two-run homer of the game to make it 6-0, and RBI singles from Torie Shifflett and Kennedy made it 8-0.

Penn State Altoona got its first run of the season across in the top of the fourth. Burge drew a walk, moved up to second after an error, and went to third on Colledge's bases-loading single. Miller followed that by drawing a walk to bring home Burge, making it 8-1.

But Bridgewater got that run back in the sixth, when Wimer's RBI base hit put the Eagles up 9-1, ending the game early by the eight-run rule again.

Next, the Penn State Altoona softball team will prepare for its Central Florida trip. The Lady Lions travel south to compete in The Spring Games from March 8-13, competing against Division III teams from across the country. The Lady Lions open The Spring Games by facing DeSales University and Washington College on Sunday, March 8.