Lakewood, N.J. - Finally digging in on the home diamond for the first time in 2018, Georgian Court University welcomed the reigning Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) champions to SEI Investments Field Wednesday afternoon, the conference opener for the Lions.

Things did not go quite as planned for GCU as the Lions suffered a two-game sweep to the Cougars, dropping decisions by the scores of 5-3 and 7-3.

The afternoon started with a bang for Georgian Court immediately in the initial frame of game one when Samantha Reilly slugged her sixth long ball of the season over the center field fence, providing the home team a 1-0 lead. A Caldwell fielding miscue permitted GCU's second tally of the game in the second before the Cougars plated a run in the top of the third, courtesy of a Carly Testa sacrifice fly.

Malaya Black answered Caldwell's threat in the bottom of the third with a ribbie single to right-center, increasing the Lions' surplus to 3-1. The Caldwell offense made its move in the fifth as the Cougars (8-10, 4-0 CACC) brought in three runs as a result of a bases-loaded base-on balls, a GCU fielding flub and a run-inducing fielder's choice.

A Christina Misiur RBI double brought around the Cougars' fifth-and-final tally to solidify the game one victory for the road team.

Sara Bearden (4-4) fired 6.1 innings to earn the win (5 H, 3 R, 2 ER 7 BB, 4 K) while teammate Jessie Johnston recorded her second save of the year with two-thirds of scoreless relief (1 K). GCU starter Taylor Baloga (2-5) suffered the loss after yielding four runs (2 ER) on four hits and nine walks (1 K).

The nightcap kicked off much like the opener as Caldwell's Marissa Monasseri (first inning) and GCU's Marissa Trezza blasted solo shots to create a 1-1 stalemate after two full. The Cougars proceeded to bring home six unanswered runs over the next four frames to take a commanding 7-1 lead after five-and-a -half. GCU manufactured a pair of tallies off a Black RBI groundout and a Trezza sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to four in the bottom of the stanza, but that would be end of the late-inning dramatics.

Johnston (4-6) went the distance for the victors (7.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB) to get the victory while Jessica O'Neil (4-4) was saddled with the setback (4.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 1 BB) for GCU.

The Lions (9-12, 0-2 CACC) have a quick turnaround as the squad sets off for Holy Family University Thursday for a 2:00 p.m. CACC double-dip.