WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – The Assumption University softball team fell to Bridgeport by a 4-0 score in the season opener for both schools at the DiamondPlex Softball Complex on Friday afternoon.

The two teams threatened to score more than the outcome suggested, but a combined three players were called out for leaving first base early.

Bridgeport, however, scored three times in the bottom of the first and never looked back. With a runner already on first, Kaira Ramon singled up the middle on a ball that took a tough hop against the Greyhound shortstop before Taylor Yates reached on an error by the shortstop to keep the Knights going. Samantha Schiebe then sent a shot up the middle to plate two more. Assumption senior captain Erin Barry (Braintree, Mass.), who pitched five strong innings, got out of the jam by fanning the next two.

With Kaite Burawski in control of the circle, the Knights added one more in the fifth to produce the final outcome. Meg McFarland reached on a high ball in the sun that was lost by the Greyhound center fielder, advancing to second on the play, and then came home when Ramon singled to left center.

Sophomore Alexis Charbonneau (Hudson, N.H.) gave the Greyhounds life by slipping the ball past the Knights' second baseman in the top of the sixth, but Burawski recovered again. She got out of the small jam by striking out the side before not allowing a hit in the seventh to preserve the clean sheet.

Burawski picked up the shutout victory for Bridgeport (1-0) by striking out 14 and only yielding one hit that came off the bat of Charbonneau. Barry was charged with the setback after allowing four runs, including two earned, and five hits while striking out eight in five innings of work. Freshman Anna Tassone (Gardner, Mass.) made a strong debut in relief by allowing only one hit and fanning three of the four batters she faced.

Assumption (0-1) will return to the DiamondPlex Softball Complex to play two more games tomorrow when it faces Tiffin at 10 a.m. and Findlay at 12:15 p.m.