WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- The Caldwell University softball coaching debut of Lindsay Mayer was a success, with a victory in the opener at THE Spring Games, a 5-2 triumph over Slippery Rock. The Cougars fell, 5-5, in the day's second game, vs. St. Anselm.

In the opener, the Cougars rode the strong pitching of freshman righthander Katie O'Connor (Charlottesville, Va.) and senior righty Madison Burns (East Greenbush, N.Y/) to the win. O'Connor was solid over the first five, permitting two runs, while Burns tossed two scoreless frames for the save.

Graduate Riley Riendeau (Lincoln, R.I.) had two hits and three RBI, including a first-inning single that plated junior 2B Grace Vondracek (Odessa, N.Y.) and freshman CF McKenzie Nazionale (Ontario, Calif.) with the game's first two runs.

CU took a 3-0 lead on a single by Vondracek in the second, scoring Nazionale. Then, holding a 3-2 lead, Riendeau's run-scoring hit again brought in Vondracek in the fifth, before the Cougars got another insurance run on a sixth-inning passed ball.

In the day's second contest, Nazionale scored on a first-inning error, Vondracek led off the fourth with a double and scored on an error, and Riendeau hit her first home run as a Cougar to give Caldwell a 4-2 lead. But a three-run St. Anselm rally gave the Hawks (3-8) the comeback win.

The Cougars are back in action on Sunday, taking on familiar East region foes in Bentley (10 a.m.) and Southern Conn. (12:30 p.m.) in THE Spring Games.