LEICESTER, Mass. – Third-seed Lesley University split a pair of games in the opening day of the New England Collegiate Conference Softball Championship today at Russell Field in Leicester, Mass. The Lynx slugged their way to a 17-6 victory over second-seeded Newbury College in the first game of the day, but fell 6-5 in a back-and-forth affair to top-seed and host Becker College in the nightcap.
Lesley and Newbury will kick off the action tomorrow once again, this time in an elimination game. First pitch is slated for 12:00p. The winner will then battle Becker College at 2:00p. A win by the Hawks in that contest would seal the Conference Championship, while a Becker loss would result in a rematch and set up a winner-take-all bout on Sunday.
Becker finished Saturday with a 2-0 mark after also clipping fourth-seeded Regis College 10-6 in the day's opener. Regis would then bow out of the Tournament as they fell to Newbury 7-6.
Game One: Lesley 17, Newbury 6
The Lynx scored early and often, putting up runs each time they came to the plate. Lesley had a 5-1 advantage after the second before going up 14-2 with a seven-run top of the fourth. Newbury got four back in the bottom of that inning, but LU notched three more in the fifth before retiring the NC side in order to close the game out ahead of schedule.
Lynx freshman designated player Jordan Raab (Rochester, N.H.) went 4-for-4 in the win with five RBIs while junior third baseman Carlyn Barker (Temecula, Calif.) was 3-for-3 with two walks, four runs batted in and another two runs scored. Freshman catcher Abby Henderson (Rochester, N.H.) turned in a 2-for-5 showing with two RBIs and a run scored, and junior left fielder Jess Reynolds (Londonderry, N.H.) went 1-for-2 with two walks, two runs batted in and two more scored.
Sophomore right-hander Kaera Wyse (Reading, Mass.) earned the win from the circle, improving her season record to 14-6 as she allowed just four hits and struck out six NC batters. Newbury freshman righty Alina Milauskas (Elkridge, Md.) tallied one strikeout in the loss.
Nighthawk senior center fielder Sheri Liggiero (Tewksbury, Mass.) had a 2-for-3 showing at the plate with a run scored and an RBI as freshman catcher Noelle Sass (Randolph, Mass.) was 1-for-2, tallying a grand slam in the fourth to register four RBIs. Senior shortstop Alyssa Donovan (West Haven, Conn.) was 1-for-2 from the batter's box, adding a walk and a run scored to her line.
Lesley wasted no time in going in front, scoring four runs on three hits in the top of the first while getting helped out by an NC error. Freshman Stephanie Schofield (Redwood, City, Calif.) bashed a double to the fence in right and moved up to third on a throwing error as the ball came back in. Barker followed, tagging an RBI single to left to score her teammate. Newbury got the second out but then issued two walks to load the pond, and a third straight base on balls brought in the second run. Raab sent a grounder up the middle, just past the diving Nighthawk shortstop allowing two runs to cross the dish.
NC came back with a single run in the bottom of the frame as a lead-off walk came around to hurt. Donovan worked herself aboard, and Liggiero slapped an ensuing hit down the line in left; the Lynx fielder laid out for the catch, but the ball fell in and rolled to the corner for the run to come around from first.
LU pushed it back to a four-run lead in the next inning, tacking up a lone score on two hits and a sacrifice-bunt. Senior shortstop Selena Quezada (West Covina, Calif.) started the inning with a long single that short-hopped the fence in center, and Schofield put down the sacrifice to get her teammate in scoring position. Barker sent a one-out double down the line in left, driving it to the corner to put the Lynx up 5-1.
A lead-off error in the bottom of the second wouldn't hurt Lesley as Wyse struck out the next three batters to get back in the dugout. LU padded its cushion in the third with two more, using four hits to go up by six. Sophomore second baseman Courtney Goggin (Cheshire, Conn.) led-off with single, and junior first baseman Sydney Thayer (Reading, Mass.) followed with a single dropped in at the second base bag. Raab pulled one between the NC third baseman and shortstop, moving up to second as Newbury unsuccessfully tried to get Goggin out at home. A pitching change couldn't slow down the Lynx as Quezada pulled a bases-loaded single through the left side for Thayer to cross the plate.
Liggiero hit a hard shot at the LU third baseman to start the third, moving around the diamond with a hit by pitch and an ensuing ground out to third. Back-to-back walks followed for Liggiero to come in, making it a 7-2 advantage for Lesley.
The Lynx then opened things up in the fourth, scoring seven times with four hits and two walks. With runners at second and third, Raab roped a base hit out to left for the pair to score before moving up to second on the throw to home. Baker added a two-run single of her own down the line in left, and Henderson launched a subsequent base knock to right-center for Schofield to come around and cross the dish. The hits kept coming for LU as Reynolds kicked up the chalk on the left field line for a two-run double.
Newbury refused to let Lesley walk away without a fight, getting four back in the home half of the frame. Donovan fired a shot off the glove of the diving Lynx second baseman to put runners at the corners, and a walk followed to load the pond for NC. Sass then blasted her 10th home run of the year, clearing the bases to get the LU lead down to eight at 14-6.
Thayer started the top of the fifth with a shot of her own, sending her second dinger of the year over the fence in left to begin a three-run frame. Raab got on with a single up the middle, and Schofield would add an RBI triple dropped under the outstretched arm of the Nighthawk fielder in right to score another. Henderson then knocked in Schofield, driving a frozen rope to the gap in left center for the 17-6 upper hand.
Wyse made quick work of Newbury in the bottom of the fifth to close out the decisive win, sitting down the Nighthawks 1-2-3 to earn a matchup with Becker in the final game of the day.
Game Two: Becker 6, Lesley 5
The tightly-contested nightcap saw Becker claim a 1-0 lead in the second before Lesley went on top with a single tally in both the third and the fourth. The Hawks then used a five-run fifth to go up by four, but the recorded solo runs in the bottom of each the fifth and sixth frames. Lesley inched closer with a lone run in the bottom of the seventh, but Becker closed out the win to remain unbeaten in the tournament.
Becker senior left fielder Jaclyn Orangio (Maynard, Mass.) went 2-for-5 out of the leadoff spot with an RBI while VanAlphen was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored. Lee drove in three runs with her third home run of the day as Klemanchuck was 1-for-3 with a solo dinger.
Norberg collected her second win of the afternoon, moving to 16-3 on the year from the rubber while striking out three and allowing just three earned runs. LU junior right-hander Alyson Nisbet (Clovis, Calif.) suffered the loss (7-10), striking out five in the effort.
Goggin went 4-for-4 with a run scored for the Lynx as Reynolds was 3-for-4 with a run scored and another batted in. Schofield had a 2-for-3 showing at the dish, and Thayer went 2-for-4 with the stick.
The Hawks would break a scoreless tie in the top of the second inning. After a pair of walks, Orangio poked a slap hit out to center to load the bases. In the ensuing at bat, VanAlphen sent a ball deep enough to left for freshman Kerrie Bellerose (Thompson, Conn.), who came on as a pinch runner, to tag up and beat the one hopper to the plate for the 1-0 lead.
Quezada would lead off the bottom of the third inning with a double to right and was then sacrificed over to third. Moving up 60-feet proved to be crucial, as she would later scamper home on a wild pitch to even the score at 1-1.
Lesley would jump ahead with a run in the next inning. Reynolds sent a seeing-eye single between the Becker first and second basemen, and a Goggin single to center put a pair on the paths. Both runners would move into scoring position after a ground out to the right side before Raab dropped a single into shallow left, allowing Reynolds to give Lesley a 2-1 edge.
The lead would not last long, however, as Becker scored five runs on four hits in the top of the fifth to regain the lead, doing so with a pair of home runs. With the bases empty, VanAlphen registered her seventh round-tripper of the year to tie the game. After Wheelahan walked, Klemanchuk sent a double to the gap in right-center to put a pair in scoring position. Lee stepped to the plate and continued her outstanding day, cranking her third homer to left. An infield error then came around to hurt as Herforth moved around to third before scoring on an RBI single to short for the 6-2 Becker advantage.
Lesley got one back in the bottom of the box to cut its deficit down to three. Quezada got on with the help of a fielding error at second, and she moved around to third with an ensuing single and fielder's choice that put runners at the corners. LU put on the double steal, seeing Barker hold up and get caught in the run down between first and second so that Quezada could cross the plate.
Lesley would continue to chip away in the sixth and started the bottom of the frame with two straight singles from Goggin and Thayer. A fielder's choice at second placed runners at first and third, and sophomore Theresa Pereira (Hopedale, Mass.) then squeezed home Goggin with a bunt.
After the Hawks stranded a runner on base in the top of the seventh, Lesley came down to its final chance at the plate. Schofield singled to short to start the inning, and she moved around to third with a throwing error and a ground out to VanAlphen. Reynolds came through with a clutch two-out RBI single drilled into center before Goggin followed with a base knock out to center, moving up to second on the throw as Reynolds motored around to third. With the tying run just 60-feet away, Lee would escape the jam and seal the win with a groundout.