FORT MEYERS, FLA. 3/14/04  - Making her first college start, freshman pitcher Erin Fuoroli (Warwick, R.I.) tossed six-innings of two-hit ball, striking out seven and not issuing a walk as the Keene State College softball team opened up its 2004 season with a 3-0 shutout win over Salem State College in Fort Myers, Florida on Sunday.

KSC later suffered an 8-6 setback to Smith College in its second game of the day.

Fouroli got all the only run she would need in the first inning.  Freshman Kathleen Gambino (Freeport, N.Y.) led off the game with a triple and came home on an RBI double by Sarah Campbell (Auburn, Mass.). Gambino's RBI single in the second made it 2-0.

A two-out solo blast by Caroline Kurkowski (Niskayuna, N.Y.), who went three-for-three in the game, gave KSC its final run in the fifth.

Meghan McLoughlin, who took over for Fouroli in the sixth with one runner on board, picked up the save.
 
In the second game, Keene State scored two runs in the first on run-scoring hits by Adria Reynolds (Portsmouth, N.H.) and Emily Crompton (Concord, N.H.) but could not hang on to the lead.  After coming back to score two runs in the bottom of the inning, Smith added a run in the second and five more in the third on timely hitting and Owl errors.

Down 8-2, KSC fought back to score three runs in the fourth and another in the fifth, but could not catch the Pioneers.

Reynolds, Kurkowski, and Crompton had two hits each in the game.

Starter Stephanie Carter (Cohoes, N.Y.) took the loss on the mound.  She pitched four innings giving up seven hits, striking out two and walking one.  Only two runs were earned.

Jenn Smith (Salem, N.H.) tossed three inning of scoreless relief. 

KSC faces Framingham State and Western New England on Monday. WNEC edged the Owls 1-0 in an NCAA Tournament game last year.