NAPLES, FLA. — The St. Joseph's University, New York (Brooklyn) softball team made their debut at the 2026 Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic on Monday. They dropped a heartbreaker to Crown College (Minn.) in the opening game, 9-10, before dropping the second game of the day against Geneva College, 0-3.
Crown College
Scoring began in the top of the third inning as Vivian Garcia (Eastvale, Calif.) doubled to drive in both Leila Heller (Belle Chasse, La.) and Valarie Scott (Tucson, Ariz.). Garcia later came around to score on Payton Walker's (Eastvale, Calif.) single to give the Bears a 3–0 lead. The Polars responded in their half of the innings with a two-RBI double of their own to cut the SJBK lead to 3-2.
Crown took control in the fourth, using a pair of singles to move ahead 5–3. The Polars extended its lead further in the sixth, plating four runs to build a 9–3 cushion.
Nicole Shultz (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) opened the seventh inning, and the Bears' rally, with a single to put an immediate runner on before erupting for three runs before recording its first out to trim Crown's lead to 9–6. With two outs, the rally continued behind a string of RBI singles. Brielle Nelson (Chandler, Ariz.) drove in the seventh run for St. Joseph's, and Audrey Scott (Rocklin, Calif.) followed with a base hit to make it a one-run game. Shultz then delivered her second single of the inning, bringing Nelson home to tie the game at 9–9.
The Polars sealed the game in the bottom of the seventh, scoring the winning run on a two-out RBI single to take a 10–9 victory.
A. Scott, Shultz, and Heller each recorded two hits and an RBI, with Shultz and Heller scoring a combined three runs. Five other Bears also contributed hits. Alyssa Garcia (Montebello, Calif.) tossed her first complete game in the circle but was charged with the loss, allowing the winning run after pitching 6.2 innings and striking out six.
Geneva College
The Golden Tornadoes jumped out to a quick start with two runs in the top of the first and added a third in the second inning. After a lengthy weather delay, Geneva's bats stayed hot, plating three on a bases-clearing triple and an error in the fifth, and later tacking on an eighth run in the frame.
The Bears managed just two baserunners all game and were unable to generate any offense, falling victim to a no-hitter for the first time since 2018.
Makena Burr (Foster City, Calif.) struck out seven in the circle while being handed her second loss of the early campaign.
Day two of the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic sees the Bears face Lesley University on Tuesday, March 17 at 12 pm. It will be followed by a matchup with Westfield State University at 2 pm.
