FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The Bates College softball team stayed at .500 on Friday with a 5-1 loss to Nichols College and a 6-3 defeat of Salem State College at the Cape Coral Sports Complex.

In the Bobcats' (2-2) first game of the day, Nichols plated all five of its runs in a six-hit fourth inning. Junior pitcher Kristin Masino (North Arlington, N.J.) was saddled with the loss.

Masino scored Bates' lone run on an RBI hit by first-year Val Beckwith (Woburn, Mass.). Junior Katie Franklin (New Preston, Conn.) collected two of Bates' eight hits in the game.

In the win over Salem State, first-year Christina Knobel (Walpole, Mass.) and sophomore Kate Brown (Portland, Maine) combined on a three-hitter. The Vikings scored all three of their runs in a two-hit, two-walk fifth inning.

The Bobcats scattered their scoring over four different innings, with two in the first, one in the second, one in the third and two in the seventh.

First-year Stacia Saniuk (Sharon, Mass.) had two of Bates' 10 hits in the game, including a triple, with two RBIs and a run scored. Saniuk also had seven assists and one putout in the field.

Sophomore Alex Bethel (Aspen, Colo.) also had two hits, with a run and two RBIs, while junior Caitlin Murphy (Westwood, Mass.) came up with two hits, a run and an RBI.

Bates concludes its Florida trip with a pair of games Saturday against Norwich University and the College of Wooster.