CAMBRIDGE, MA – Cassandra Knox's no-hitter led Lesley University's doubleheader sweep of Becker College, 8-0 and 10-2, in both teams' New England Collegiate Conference openers Saturday afternoon, as Lesley won its seventh straight game.
Knox (Sea Cliff, NY/North Shore) struck out seven in her complete game, five-inning no-hitter, walking none and holding the Hawks hitless over an economical 50 pitches in the reigning NECC Pitcher of the Year's career game.
"It was my first college no hitter," said Knox. "We had a good team effort, made good plays and the result was a no-hitter. I hope to have another in the future."
Becker helped Lesley jump on top in the first inning of the opener, as a walk, wild pitch and passed ball landed leadoff hitter Emily Mangiaratti (Amherst, MA/Amherst) at third base. Gabrielle Brixey's (Coalinga, CA/West Hills CC) pop to center went off Larissa Paula's glove, sending Mangiaratti home and Brixey to third. An Alyson Durben (Stow, MA/Nashoba) RBI groundout scored Brixey, putting the Lynx on top 2-0 after one.
Three more Hawks errors led to three Lynx unearned runs in the third, as Mangiaratti and Jessica Guevara reached on back-to-back errors to lead off the inning. Durben later singled and scored to put the Lynx up 5-0, and after Lesley added two more in the fourth, Sarah Apgar's RBI single in the bottom of the fifth capped Lesley's win and completed Knox's first career no-hitter.
Only three errors, one from the pitcher herself, got in the way of perfection for Knox, as the junior improved to 4-3 on the year with her third win in a row and first outing all year without allowing a walk.
Consecutive Hawks throwing errors to the first two batters of Game 2 led to Mangiaratti and Guevara scoring to lead off the game, and starting pitcher Jennifer Dorval (Franklin, NH/Franklin) singled and scored to make it a 3-0 lead after one.
Lesley pulled away in the second, starting with a Mangiaratti single that plated Jenna Fralick (Woburn, MA/Woburn). A Guevara bunt scored Maria Nazzaro, and Mangiaratti scored on a Dorval RBI single, her seventh straight single in her last seven at-bats. Into the game at first base, freshman Nicole Mercurio's (Wakefield, MA/Wakefield) infield single sent home Guevara, putting the home team on top 7-0. Meanwhile, Dorval was nearly as splendid in the second game as Knox was in the opener.
After allowing a single to Rachel Walsh (Hadley, MA/Hopkins) to lead off the game, the Hawks managed only two more hits off Dorval over her 4 2/3 innings. The righty struck out eight and walked one, improving to 6-1 on the season as the Lynx upped their record to 10-4.
Becker got two runs in the fifth off reliever Stephanie Vassillion, with Paige Needham (Worcester, MA/Holy Name) knocking an RBI double to left and Kimmy MacKay (Bethlehem, NH/Profile) singling home McKay. Lesley scored two in the bottom of the inning, finishing off its 10-2 win.
For the Hawks, Walsh went 2-for-3 in Game 2, while Needham, who took both losses on the mound, went 1-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored as the Becker fell to 4-12, 0-2 in NECC play.
Mangiaratti ignited the Lynx offense, going a combined 2-for-4 with two RBIs, two stolen bases and five runs scored in Lesley's leadoff spot. After her first career five-hit game against Lasell on Thursday, Dorval went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two, and Guevara made up for a 1-for-5 day a the plate with a stolen base, her team-leading seventh sacrifice bunt and three runs scored.
Lesley returns to action Sunday at noon for a non-conference doubleheader at Wellesley, while Becker travels to Wheelock on Monday.
The Automated ScoreBook
Becker College at Lesley University
04/09/11 at Cambridge, MA (Buckingham Field)
Becker College 0 (4-11,0-1)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Rachel Walsh lf.......... 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0
Rachel Weidele 2b........ 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Whitney Buck dh.......... 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Felicia Laufer c......... 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 2 1
Paige Needham p.......... 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Talan Barron ss.......... 2 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 0
Jessica Lewis 3b......... 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
Lindsay Hanna 1b......... 2 0 0 0 0 2 4 0 0
Kimmy MacKay rf.......... 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2
Maggie Levesque rf...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Larissa Paula cf......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Totals................... 18 0 0 0 0 7 13 4 3
Lesley University 8 (9-4,1-0)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Emily Mangiaratti dh..... 2 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 0
Jessica Guevara 2b....... 3 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 0
Gabrielle Brixey lf...... 3 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0
Alyson Durben cf......... 3 1 1 2 0 0 1 0 1
Ashley Cunningham 1b..... 3 0 2 0 0 0 4 0 0
Rian Powers pr.......... 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Molly Sarson c........... 2 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 1
Sarah Apgar ss........... 3 0 2 1 0 0 1 2 0
Jenna Fralick 3b......... 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Maria Nazzaro rf......... 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Cassandra Knox p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Totals................... 23 8 8 6 1 1 15 4 4
Score by Innings R H E
--------------------------------------
Becker College...... 000 00 - 0 0 6
Lesley University... 203 21 - 8 8 3
--------------------------------------
Note: 1 out, 1 runner LOB when the game ended.
E - Weidele; Laufer; Needham; Barron; Lewis; Paula; Guevara 2; Knox. DP -
Becker 1. LOB - Becker 3; Lesley 4. 2B - Cunningham 2(5). SH - Sarson(3). SB
- Mangiaratti(5); Guevara(4); Durben(1); Apgar(1); Nazzaro(2). CS -
Apgar(1).
Becker College IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Paige Needham....... 4.1 8 8 4 1 1 23 25
Lesley University IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Cassandra Knox...... 5.0 0 0 0 0 7 18 18
Win - Knox (4-3). Loss - Needham (3-5). Save - None.
WP - Needham. PB - Laufer.
Umpires - HP: Terry Dostil 2B: Kevin Finnerty
Start: 11:55 am Time: 1:06 Attendance: 60
The Automated ScoreBook
Becker College at Lesley University
04/09/11 at Cambridge, MA (Buckingham Field)
Becker College 2 (4-12,0-2)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Rachel Walsh c........... 3 0 2 0 0 1 0 1 0
Rachel Weidele ss........ 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
Whitney Buck dh.......... 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2
Felicia Laufer 2b........ 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 2 1
Talan Barron lf.......... 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
Jessica Lewis 3b......... 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 3 0
Lindsay Hanna cf......... 1 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 0
Paige Needham p.......... 2 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0
Maggie Levesque rf....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kimmy MacKay rf......... 2 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0
Larissa Paula 1b......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0
Totals................... 17 2 4 2 1 8 12 8 4
Lesley University 10 (10-4,2-0)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Emily Mangiaratti dh..... 2 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
Jessica Guevara 2b....... 2 2 1 1 0 0 2 2 0
Gabrielle Brixey cf...... 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0
Jennifer Dorval p........ 3 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0
Stephanie Vassillion p.. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ashley Cunningham 1b..... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Nicole Mercurio pr/1b... 1 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 0
Molly Sarson c........... 3 0 1 1 0 0 8 0 3
Sarah Apgar ss........... 3 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1
Jenna Fralick 3b......... 3 2 2 1 0 0 1 1 0
Maria Nazzaro rf......... 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Chelsea Quackenbush lf... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 22 10 9 7 2 0 15 5 4
Score by Innings R H E
--------------------------------------
Becker College...... 000 02 - 2 4 4
Lesley University... 340 12 - 10 9 0
--------------------------------------
E - Lewis; Needham 2; Levesque. LOB - Becker 4; Lesley 4. 2B - Needham(4);
Sarson(2). 3B - Fralick(1). HBP - Lewis. SH - Weidele(1); Hanna(1);
Guevara(7). SF - Cunningham(1). SB - Lewis(1); Mangiaratti(6); Dorval(1);
Fralick(2); Nazzaro(3).
Becker College IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Paige Needham....... 4.0 9 10 5 2 0 22 26
Lesley University IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Jennifer Dorval..... 4.2 3 0 0 1 8 16 18
Stephanie Vassillion 0.1 1 2 2 0 0 1 3
Win - Dorval (6-1). Loss - Needham (3-5). Save - None.
WP - Needham 3; Dorval. HBP - by Vassillion (Lewis). PB - Walsh 3.
Umpires - HP: Kevin Finnerty 2B: Terry Dostil
Start: 1:25 p. Time: 1:16 Attendance: 65
Needham faced 2 batters in the 5th.
