Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 TUCSON, AZ – The Chatham University Softball team opened their 2013 campaign with a pair of games at the Tucson Invitational on Sunday.  The Cougars dropped both games; a 5-1 decision to Saint Mary's University in the opener, and 18-8 against Marian University in the nightcap.
 
Against Saint Mary's (6-3), Natalie Vazquez led the offense with two hits, including a game-opening triple.  Leigha Pehrson, Jenn Stefano, and Olivia Traini each tallied one hit.  Pehrson (0-1) went the distance on the mound, allowing nine hits and three earned runs while striking out one.
 
After Saint Mary's opened up a 4-0 lead in the fourth inning, Chatham got on the board in the sixth when Stefano scored off a Traini double.  The Cardinals scored one more run in the home half of the sixth to go ahead 5-1.
 
In the closing game against Marian (2-4), every inning except the fifth saw at least one run scored.  The teams combined for 29 hits, including eight doubles.  Vazquez continued her hot start to the season by going 4-5 at the plate, scoring two runs and driving in another.  Elizabeth Doman went 2-4 and scored a run.  Stefano and Traini each scored two runs, while Ashley Lamb scored one.
 
Chatham took a 4-2 lead after the first inning thanks to costly Marian errors, leading to four unearned runs. Marian scored 10 straight runs, though, to lead 12-4 after the top of the fourth inning.  Four Chatham runs in the bottom of the fourth closed the gap to 12-8, but Marian added six more runs to take the 18-8 victory.
 
Chatham plays two more games tomorrow, March 11 in Tucson.  The Cougars face Dickinson College at 9:00am (MST) and Sul Ross State University at 11:00am (MST).
 
-COUGARS-
 
Chatham University, founded in 1869, is located in the vibrant Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh, PA. Preparing students from around the world, Chatham's enrollment throughout the past decade was the fastest growing in the Pittsburgh region.

Consisting of a historic, undergraduate women's college and graduate and online programs for both men and women, Chatham has consistently been ranked among the top master's level institutions in the Northeast by U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review. Offering challenging academics and innovative programming in the fields of sustainability and the environment, the health sciences, and business & entrepreneurship, a Chatham education is designed to meet the needs of tomorrow's economy, today.

Chatham has also demonstrated institutional commitments to reach carbon neutrality by 2025 as a charter signatory of the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment, has been named to The Princeton Review's 2013 Green Honor Roll as one of the most environmentally responsible universities in the U.S. and Canada, received a STARS Gold Rating in recognition of its sustainability achievements from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), and is the alma mater of environmental icon and Silent Spring author, Rachel Carson (class of '29).

For more information, call 800-837-1290 or visit www.chatham.edu.