CLEARWATER, Fla.  –  The University of Hartford softball team dropped a pair of decisions in the opening day of the USF-Under Armour Tournament held in Clearwater, Fla. The Hawks first suffered a 4-0 loss in the afternoon's first game before falling, 10-1, in five innings to Tennessee Chattanooga in the nightcap. The Hawks drop to 1-12 on the season.

In the opening game, junior Brigit Ieuter tossed a three-hit shutout for Colgate (2-3) and received run support early in the first inning as the Raiders improved to 2-3 with the victory. Danielle DeMarco, Marisa Ferguson and Jamie Soles were the lone Hawks to collect hits in the contest.

After recording a one-two-three inning defensively to start the game, Colgate got to work and scored three runs in its first at-bats. Mariel Schlaefer, who reached base on a fielder's choice, opened up the scoring for the Raiders by taking second on a walk by Marissa Dowling before advancing to third on a double steal. Tara Grennan broke the game open on an RBI single to left field and following a pair of steals coupled with an infield error that allowed Dowling to score, the right fielder made it a 3-0 Colgate lead on an infleld groundout off the barrel of Alessandra Moore.

In the fifth frame, the Hawks had a chance to get back in the game, but stranded a pair of runners on second and third. With one out, Ferguson sparked the offense with a single through the left side of the field. After reaching second on a botched fielder's choice in Soles' at-bat, the duo both moved into scoring position on a passed ball. Hartford would come up short, though, as Ieuter induced an outfield fly out and an infield ground out on a bunt to get out of the jam.

Colgate extended its lead to 4-0 in the sixth inning thanks to a lead off solo shot from Schlaefer. For the Raiders, Ieuter recorded one strikeout and issued just two walks to improve to 2-1. Fanning four batters, Bianca Ross drops to 0-6 on the season after allowing four earned runs on five Colgate hits.

Hartford struggled to get the bats going in the afternoon's second game against the Mocs. Junior Taylor Deason limited the Hawks to just two hits – a pair single off the bats of Ferguson and Peyton Fisher – as Marina Wilkerson recorded Tennessee Chattanooga's first six RBI on a pair of three run homers in the second and fourth innings.

Trailing 3-0 heading into the third, the Hawks grabbed one run back to close the gap to two runs. Leading off the inning with a single to outfield, Ferguson advanced 60 feet on a walk by Soles and continued to move down the paths on Fisher's single. With the bases loaded, Jenice Aloyo pushed Ferguson across home plate on an infield ground out to make it a two-run game.

The Hawks would get no closer to the Mocs, though, as Wilkerson struck with her second three-run blast before the squad added seven more runs to the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth to eventually score the five-inning victory.

Sophomore Lexi Wilkerson (0-3) took the loss for the Hawks, allowing eight earned runs on nine hits in 4.0 frames. For Tennessee Chattanooga, Deason fanned five batters while issuing two walks to improve to 7-3 overall. The Mocs move to 15-6 on the season.

The Hawks resume action in the Sunshine State on Saturday afternoon with a pair of games, beginning with an 11:15 matchup against Florida A&M. Later in the day, the Hawks will take on Syracuse at 4:15 p.m.