Softball Falls to Defending Conference Champions

BOSTON, Mass. – The Endicott College softball team combined to score 34 runs on 33 hits over 10 innings, while freshmen Nell O'Connor (Harwich, Mass.) and Jennie Lacolla (Stoneham, Mass.) combined to allow just two runs on five hits and strike out 13 batters as the Gulls swept the Leopards, 15-1, and 19-1, in a The Commonwealth Coast Conference doubleheader.

Endicott struck for five runs in the top of the second of the opener, thanks in part to an RBI single from senior Ashley Wright (Merrimack, N.H.) and a two-run triple from freshman Jesse Bilafer (Concord, Mass.).  An inning later the Gulls plated a single run on a senior Haley Hovhanessian (Farmington, Conn.) RBI single, which scored freshman Mattie Brett (Waterford, Conn.), who had led off the inning with a triple.

In the fourth inning the Gulls broke the game open, scoring six times, as senior Katelyn Soja (Chicopee, Mass.) and Lacolla had back-to-back RBI triples, Wright had an RBI single, and sophomore Byrne Katz (Trumbull, Conn.) had a three-run double.  Wentworth scored its only run of the game in the home half of the inning when senior Jen Giudice (Central Valley, N.Y.) led off with a double and junior Samantha Altieri (Lakeville, Mass.) was hit by a pitch.  Both players moved up a base on an illegal pitch before Giudice scored on an RBI groundout by senior Bridget Souza (Medford, Mass.).

Endicott tacked on three runs in the fifth, with two coming on a Wright double, to round out the scoring.

O'Connor (2-1) yielded one run on just one hit, while not walking anyone and striking out five.  She was perfect through the first three innings and set down the six batters she faced.  At the plate Wright was 4-for-4 with four RBI, while Souja, Brett, and Hovhanessian each recorded two hits in the win.

Freshman Stephanie MacLeay (Ashley Falls, Mass.) took the loss for the Leopards, while Giudice got the lone Wentworth hit.

The Gulls picked up where they left off to open the second game, scoring seven times in the opening frame.  Lacolla, Hovhanessian, and freshman Kelley Michael (Ipswich, Mass.) each had RBI singles, while the big blast of the inning was a three-run double by freshman Alli Noyes (Tewksbury, Mass.).  In the home half of the inning Wentworth scored its lone run of the game when senior Lizz Harvey (McConnellsburg, Pa.) blasted her sixth home run of the season to left center.

Endicott added six runs in the second, thanks in part to a two-run double from Soja, an RBI double from Noyes, a sacrifice fly from Lacolla, and an RBI from both Brett and Hovhanessian.  A two-run home run off the bat of Soja scored two of the Gulls' three runs an inning later, while Michael added a two-run double in the fourth.  The Gulls closed out the scoring with an RBI single from Soja in the fifth inning.

Lacolla (2-1) allowed one run on four hits, while not walking a batter and striking out eight.  Offensively, Soja was 3-for-4 with four runs scored and five RBI, while Noyes drove in four and scored three times with a 2-for-4 performance.  Michael would drive in three runs as every Endicott starter recorded at least one hit.

Freshman Haylee Bacik (Lowell, Mass.) took the loss, going the first 1.1 innings before MacLeay pitched the final 3.2 innings.  At the plate, Harvey had two of Wentworth's four hits.

Winners of six straight, the Gulls improve to 15-5 overall and 9-1 in TCCC play.  Endicott is at Roger Williams on Saturday.  Wentworth falls to 0-25 (0-14) and hosts Western New England on Saturday.