Box Score
CLERMONT, Fla. – On their second to last day at the Dot Richardson Games in Florida, the Falcons surrendered five runs in the seventh inning, in a 9-4 loss to Ferris State.

For the Falcons (6-7) the loss was their third in a row, and for the Bulldogs (1-0) the contest was their first of the season, after having their first four games of the season cancelled.

Ferris State jumped on the board in the top of the first inning. Rachael Gabrielson stroked a one out single, made her way to second on a passed ball before advancing to third on a groundout, and scored the game's first run on another passed ball.

Notre Dame capitalized on a pair of errors and a balk to score a pair of runs and take the lead in the bottom of the second inning.  A walk issued to Lydia Coccitto started the inning, before Anissa Kotoch laid down a sacrifice to move her over, and an error on the play allowed Kotoch to reach as well. Nicole Spuhler followed with a sacrifice bunt to put runners on second and third, and they both scored after Kelsey Coleman reached on third baseman Bailey Darwin's error. 

The Bulldogs answered right back with two runs of their own in the next half inning.  Three consecutive singles from Alyssa Smith, Gabrielson and Michelle Tononi started the rally. Amy Dunleavy then reached on Ciocca's error at short, which allowed two runs to score.

NDC came right back and tied the game in the home half of the inning, when Coccitto drove Jessica Cavallero home on a two-out RBI double to right-field, tying the game at 3-3. 

Ferris State added another run to regain the lead in the top of the fourth inning before the Falcons answered back in the bottom of the fifth.  Notre Dame again capitalized on a couple of big errors in the inning.  Coccitto walked with two outs in the inning, and Kotoch hit a ground ball that was too hot for first baseman Megan Galganksi to handle, and the error allowed Coccitto to score.

The game remained tied until the Bulldogs blew the game open with a five-run seventh inning to pull away. Gabrielson started the rally with a base hit. Galganski brought her home on a run scoring double to left, before Alex Wittman smashed a RBI base hit to add to the cushion.  Sarah Johnson followed with a run scoring base hit and Smith put the cap on the big inning with a two-run single.

Dunleavy (1-0) scored the victory for Ferris State, while Ashley Hall (6-4) took the loss after surrendering six runs on seven hits over four innings in relief.

Coleman and Coccitto had a pair of hits each to pace the Falcons offensively.  Coccitto reached all four times up with a pair of walks to go along with her two knocks, and had NDC's only RBI of the evening.

The Falcons will finish up play at the Dot Richardson Games with a pair of contests on Saturday.  They'll take on Cedarville at 9 a.m., and finish up with a 1 p.m. game against Grand Valley State.