CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – After trailing by two, Lesley University pushed across six runs between the fifth and sixth innings to take the nightcap of New England Collegiate Conference doubleheader 8-4 over Mitchell College on a cold, windy Thursday afternoon. The Lynx forced the split after the Mariners held off another late comeback attempt by the Lynx to earn an 8-7 triumph in the opener.
Lesley moves to an even 10-10 on the season while receiving their first blemish in NECC play as they go to 7-1 in conference matchups. Mitchell moves to 5-17 overall and 4-4 in the NECC.
Both teams will return to conference play on Saturday afternoon. Lesley will play host to Southern Vermont College for a doubleheader at 2:00p on the Lasell College campus and Mitchell will return home to New London, Conn. and battle Newbury College in a twin-billing due to start at 12:00p.
Game One: Mitchell 8, Lesley 7
Box Score
Lesley opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning as freshman Abby Henderson (Macnhester, N.H.) and senior Jess Reynolds (Londonderry, N.H.) came through with back-to-back RBI singles to left to stake a 2-0 lead for the Lynx.
Mitchell would answer back in the top of the second inning as a trio of walks loaded the bases with one out. Nia Brown (New York, N.Y.) knocked a run scoring single to center before freshman Suzanne Vachon (East Hartford, Conn.) reached on an error in the Lynx infield that allowed a pair of runs to score.
The Lynx would even the score with a run in the bottom of the inning with a well-placed safety-squeeze by junior Carlyn Barker (Temecula, Calif.) that brought in Stephanie Schofield (Redwood City, Calif.).
The Mitchell offense would stay hot and jump back in front with three runs in the top of the third inning. Junior Brittany Fiederlein (Hampton, Conn.) and Brown each connected with RBI singles while Vachon drew a walk with the bases that chased Lynx starter Kaera Wyse (Reading, Mass.) from the game to push the advantage to 6-3.
The Lynx would pull to within one with a run in the fourth and the fifth, but the Mariners would strike for two pivotal runs in the top of the sixth.
Trailing 8-5 in the bottom of the seventh, Henderson drove in Barker with an RBI double before coming around on a single by Reynolds to pull within one once again, 8-7. Mitchell starter Brittany Fiederlein would escape the jam and strand the tying run on second base to secure the win for the guest.
Brown paced the Mariners offense, going 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI's while Shannon O'Neil (Chicopee, Mass.) added two hits to go with a run and an RBI.
Henderson and Reynolds each finished 3-for-4 for the hosts. Henderson knocked in two and crossed the plate once while Reynolds registered three RBI.
Game Two:
Box Score
With Lesley holding a 1-0 lead after two innings, Mitchell used a two out rally to spark some offense in the top of the third. Sophomore Daniel Autieri (North Salem, N.Y.) drove a run scoring double in the left-center gap before Jenny Groman (New Britain, Conn.) and Rice later followed with RBI singles to put the visitors up 3-1.
The Lynx cut the two run deficit in half in the bottom of the inning as Theresa Pereira (Hopedale, Mass.) led off with a single, stole second, advanced to third on an error and then scored on a single up the middle by Barker.
The Mariners would waste little time in pushing their lead back to two runs as Fiederlein connected for an opposite-field double to right field that pushed across sophomore Samantha DelConte (Enfield, Conn.) who reached earlier in the inning with an infield single.
Lesley would punch back and even the score in the bottom of the fifth as junior Mekenzi Golden (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) blasted her second home run of the season with a high, towering shot over the left field fence. Henderson followed with a double down the left field line before senior Reynolds drove her in with a single to left. Lesley would continue to threaten in the inning and put runners on the corners with two outs, but Mitchell reliever Taylor Duchesneau (Killingly, Conn.) forced a fly-out to get out of the jam.
After holding the Mariners scoreless in the top of the sixth, Schofield and Pereira got the Lynx offense moving as they both reached to start the bottom half. Lesley would push across their first run of the inning as they took advantage of a throwing error on a sacrifice-bunt by senior Selena Quezada (West Covina, Calif.) that allowed Schofield to score and put runners at second and third with no outs. After a pop-up in the infield registered the first out of the inning, a Golden single to left that was misplayed and rolled to the fence brought in a pair to give the Lynx a three run edge. Henderson would follow Golden with an RBI double down the left field line to give the hosts the 8-4 lead.
The game was called after six innings due to darkness.