KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The Caldwell College softball team won twice to begin play at the Rebel Spring Games Saturday afternoon at Oren Brown Field. The Cougars defeated Wheeling Jesuit 11-3 in five innings before beating Seton Hill University 2-1 to start the 2012 season with a 2-0 record.

Against Wheeling Jesuit, Caldwell pushed two runs across in the top of the first. Junior Dia Cascone (Staten Island, NY/Susan Wagner) led off the game with a double and eventually scored on a grounder by freshman Megan Fryday (San Marcos, CA/Mission Hills). Freshman Briana Gaspich (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) plated freshman Kristen Knorr (Monroeville, NJ/Delsea) with a grounder to make the score 2-0. Wheeling Jesuit answered with three runs in the bottom of the first to lead 3-2.

After tying the score in the third, the Cougars broke open the game in the fourth with eight runs on six hits. Gaspich and senior Marisa Tamez (Fountain Hills, CA/Fountain Hills) hit two-run doubles, while freshman Alyssa Calderon (Fontana, CA/Etiwanda) drove in two with a single. Sophomore Nicole Velardi (Belleville, NJ/Belleville), who led off the inning with a double, also had an RBI single.

Junior pitcher Kourtney Wilson (Islip, NY/St. Anthony's) settled in after the first inning, allowing two hits and no runs over the final four innings for her first victory of the season. Cascone was 2-for-2 with two doubles and three runs, while Gaspich had two hits and three RBI. Aleecia Sunagel hit a three-run homer for Wheeling Jesuit (6-8).

The second game was a pitcher's dual between Caldwell freshman Sarah Almasy (Stratford, NJ/Sterling) and Seton Hill's Christine Henderson, as neither pitcher allowed a hit until the bottom of the third. In that inning, Cascone hit a two-out double for the first hit of the game, then scored on a single by Knorr. Seton Hill responded in the top of the fourth with a run on two hits and an error to tie the score at 1-1.

The game remained deadlocked at 1-1 until the bottom of the seventh. Velardi hit a one-out double down the left-field line, then scored on a two-out single from freshman Sara Zambelli (West Milford, NJ/West Milford) for the game-winning run. Almasy held Seton Hill to five hits in seven innings while striking out two in her first collegiate start. Henderson also went the distance for Seton Hill, allowing four hits in 6 2/3 innings.

The Cougars continue play at the Rebel Spring Games on Sunday, Mar. 11, facing Indiana (PA) at 1:00 p.m. and California (PA) at 3:00 p.m. at the Fortune Road Athletic Complex.