Softball Sweeps Hartford, Clinches Final Spot in CNE Tournament

BOSTON, Mass. – In their regular season finales on Saturday, the Wentworth Institute of Technology softball team pulled off a pair of impressive wins over the Hartford Hawks by respective 10-7 and 6-4 scores to clinch their way into the Conference of New England's postseason tournament for the fourth straight year.

With the wins, the Leopards enter the postseason as the No. 6-seed, holding a 20-20 overall mark and finishing with a 9-9 record in conference play. The Hawks' season closes with a 21-18-1 overall mark (8-9-1 CNE).

GAME ONE: WENTWORTH 10, HARTFORD 7

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Hawks raced out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning as a triple by Sarah Serrano plated a pair of runs before an RBI double by Alexis Sealey plated another. In the back half of the frame, the Leopards cut the deficit to two as a fielder's choice with two runners on brought home one.
• Wentworth rallied in the fourth inning as, with the bases loaded, a triple to right center by Brianna Miller plated all three runners to mark a 4-3 game. An RBI single by Lexi Lefkowski brought home Miller, marking a 5-3 score.
• Hartford knotted the score at five-all in the fifth inning as an RBI single plated a pair of runs. In the back half of the frame, back-to-back walks with the bases loaded brought in a pair of the Leopards, marking a 7-5 game, before singles by Kyla Igawa and Lauren Trostel ran home two and one run each, respectively, marking a 10-5 game.
• The Hawks clawed back in the sixth as a fielder's choice and a sacrifice fly accounted for a run apiece to cut their deficit to 10-7. However, Julia Malowitz retired three of four batters in the seventh to preserve the win.
• Igawa and Jess Rowe each notched a pair of hits for the Black & Gold while Miller racked up five RBI. In the circle, Rowe struck out three and surrendered seven hits in 3.1 innings of work before Malowitz earned the win, giving up just three hits and fanning a batter in 3.2 innings.

GAME TWO: WENTWORTH 6, HARTFORD 4

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• An RBI single by Igawa in the opening frame gave the Leopards an initial 1-0 lead before another RBI single by Igawa and a sacrifice fly each brought home a run apiece, giving Wentworth a 3-0 advantage. In the fourth, the Hawks used a double, a single, and a ground out to rally for four runs with a 4-3 edge.
• In the fifth, the Leopards knotted the score at four aside on an RBI double by Trostel.  An RBI single by Kelsey Medalia followed to plate Trostel and give the Leopards a 5-4 edge before an RBI single by Katelin Howe in the sixth pushed Wentworth's advantage to 6-4.
• In the seventh inning, Maddy Longoria retired all three Hawks' batters to claim the win. In the circle, Julie Schriver struck out three batters and surrendered four hits in four frames of work before Longoria gave up one hit in three innings.
• At the plate, Howe paced the offense with three hits while Igawa and Medalia each drove in a pair of runs.

SERIES NOTES:

• Today marked the third and fourth all-time meetings between the two teams.

NEXT UP:

• Wentworth awaits the final seeding and their first opponent in the conference tournament which kicks off Tuesday, May 6.

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