The first step on what the Bryan softball team hopes will be a long journey began with a wobble, but the Lady Vikings regained their balance and marched past Conroe on Tuesday night.

Bryan fell behind quickly on a two-run homer in the top of the first inning, but senior pitcher Jennifer Kasper settled down and the hitters heated up during a 10-2 season-opening victory on a cold night at Lady Viking Field.

The Lady Vikes smacked 11 hits, getting a double and a triple plus three runs batted in from Kasper. Clean-up hitter Emily Peirce collected three hits and drove in two runs, helping Bryan score at least two runs in four innings.

Kasper, backed by solid defense, retired 14 consecutive batters during the middle innings while the Lady Vikings seized control by scoring 10 consecutive runs.

Although it ended up being a comfortable victory, the top of the first inning was sort of like an itchy sweater for the Lady Vikes. Conroe opened the season with a leadoff single and then got a two-out home run by Kendra Cullum, with both hits coming on 0-2 pitches from Kasper.

"We had a pitch that wasn't working," Bryan coach Enrique Luna said. "It kind of hung, and they hit it out. I think it was just first-game jitters, all that excitement building up. But I am so proud of the way we came back and answered in the bottom of the inning. We could have folded and felt sorry for ourselves, but we responded with a flurry."

The Lady Vikings tied the score when Kasper lined a two-run double to right field. Bryan moved ahead to stay with a couple of runs in the third, scoring on Kaitlyn Hathcox's RBI single and Jennifer Saxby's sacrifice fly.

Peirce dumped a two-run single up the middle and scored on Kasper's triple as the Lady Vikes added three runs in the fourth. Patty Gorzycki delivered an RBI double for her second hit and scored her third run as Bryan pushed the advantage to 10-2 in the fifth.

"We've got a lot of weapons," Luna said. "We didn't leave a lot of runners on base (six)."

The Lady Vikings will host the 40-team Bryan-College Station Tournament this weekend. Bryan will face Victoria Memorial at noon Thursday on its home field.

Bryan 10, Conroe 2

Conroe 200 000 0 -- 2 4 2

Bryan 202 330 x -- 10 11 1

Jennifer Kasper and Jennifer Saxby, Reagan Boenker (5). Meagan DePugh, Christy Dowdy (4) and Kate Smith. W -- Kasper, 1-0. L -- DePugh, 0-1. 2B -- Bryan: Patty Gorzycki, Kasper. 3B -- Bryan: Kasper, Brooke Parker. HR -- Conroe: Kendra Cullum. Time -- 1:47.