CLERMONT, Fla. – The Worcester State softball team ended their Florida trip Friday afternoon in a 6-6 tie against the Bowdoin College Polar Bears, as the game was cut short due to thunderstorms in the area.

After Worcester State scored one run in the top of the 1^st inning, the Polar Bears stole the lead, scoring  two runs off four hits from Jordan Gowdy (Weatogue, Conn.), Lauren O'Shea (W. Roxbury, Mass.), Marissa O'Toole (Scarborough, Me.), and Samantha Valdiva (N. Hills, Calif.).

Worcester State tied the game up in the top of the 4^th when Sydney Despres (Sterling, Mass.) hit a solo home run over the left field wall – her 5^th on the season.

After three back-to-back putouts from Rachel Couto (Chelmsford, Mass.) in the bottom of the 4^th, she came up to bat in the top of the 5^th to start the inning off with a single to right field. Couto and Courtney Salisbury (Cranston, RI) reached home on RBI from Sara Pelletier (Leominster, Mass.) and Despres. With no outs, Hayley Terry (N. Dighton, Mass.) came up to bat next and doubled through the right side, adding two more runs to the Lancers lead to move the score to 6-2.

After the Lancers had a powerful 5^th inning, the Polar Bears matched the four runs on four hits, to knot the score at 6-6.

The 6^th inning was scoreless, and then the game got called for a rain delay in the top of the 7^th, eventually resulting in the final score of 6-6 as the game closed out at the bottom of the 6^th.

Despres went 3-for-3 against the Polar Bears with three RBI. Couto went 2-for-3, while Salisbury and Terry both batted .500 against Bowdoin's pitching staff. For the Polar Bears, Emily Griffin (Tuscon, Ariz.) and Valdiva both batted 2-for-3.

The Lancers travel back to Massachusetts over the weekend, and look to host their first game of the season on Wednesday (Mar. 30) against UMass-Dartmouth.