WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - Carroll's softball team opened their 2025 campaign in style Saturday afternoon, defeating Swarthmore College 10-7, before also topping Kean University 12-5. That gives the Pios a 2-0 start to the season for the first time since 2021.

GAME 1 vs. Swarthmore
After giving up a run in the top of the first in their season-opener, Carroll (2-0) got that run back in the bottom half of that inning when Kiana Johnson crossed the plate on a fielders choice. After Swathmore (2-3) added two more runs in the second, Carroll answered with a run in the second and five more in the third to take their first lead of the season. That rally began with a bases loaded walk issued to Madison Hoagland, followed by a sac fly off the bat of Gianna Buske and an RBI single from Johnson. Kali Stanchina then added a two-run single to give Carroll a 7-3 lead. 

Swarthmore made things interesting with a four-run fifth, which tied the score at seven. That tie was short-lived however, as Buske scored on an error in the bottom of that inning, which was followed by a two-run single by Addison Leck through the left side of the infield to tack on a pair of insurance runs for the Pios.

Senior Riley Pavelka (1-0) earned the win, allowing five earned runs on eight hits. Freshman Makayla Wall earned the save in her first collegiate outing, allowing just one hit in 1.1 innings of scoreless ball, while also recording two strikeouts.

Carroll finished the game with six hits, including two by Leck. Johnson scored three runs from her lead-off spot in the Pios' lineup.

GAME 2 vs. Kean
The nightcap saw Carroll strike first with two runs in the top of the third, coming via an RBI single by Abby Curtis and a sac fly off the bat of Stanchina. The Pioneers would score three more runs in the fifth on an Allison Garski sac fly and a pair of RBI singles, coming from Leck and Jenna Andler to make the score 5-0.

Kean (4-4) got on the board in the fifth, rallying with a five-run inning to tie the score. Much like the first game however, Carroll had an answer for that, taking the lead for good in the sixth on a two-run single to right center off the bat of Garski. The Pios broke the game wide open in the seventh, beginning with a two-run triply by Buske, which was followed by a Stanchina RBI single down the right field line and a pair of RBI singles from MK Dusza and Leck.

Carroll finished the game with 15 hits, led by Junior Val Osthoff's 4-for-5 performance at the dish. Stanchina, Garski, and Leck each added two hits, with Stanchina also scoring a game-high three runs.

Wall (1-0) continued her outstanding debut, earning the win, allowing five hits without yielding an earned run in 4.1 innings of work. She also struck out three batters. All five runs Carroll allowed on the day were unearned.

The Pioneers will be back at it on Monday, as they'll battle Mount Saint Mary (NY) at 11:30 a.m. ET and Suffolk University at 2 p.m. ET. Both games will be played at DiamondPlex Field E in Winter Haven, Fla.