BEVERLY, Mass. – Endicott and Western New England split a Saturday doubleheader as the Gulls captured a 9-1 victory in six innings in game one before falling 6-1 in game two. Endicott (9-9, 6-1 CCC) continues their conference schedule with a road double dip against Nichols on Sunday, April 12th starting at 12:00 p.m. in Dudley.
Western New England (13-6, 5-1 CCC) hosts CCC rival the University of New England on Sunday for a doubleheader. Game one between the Golden Bears and Nor'easters starts at 12:00 p.m.
Game One: Endicott 9, Western New England 1 (6 inn.)
A five-run bottom of the third for Endicott, led by back-to-back ground-rule doubles by junior third baseman Sam DiBella (Danvers, Mass.) and sophomore second baseman Julia McNeill (Hauppauge, N.Y.) that combined to bring in three runs, expanded the Gulls lead from 2-0 to 7-0 going into the fourth inning.
Junior pitcher Courtney Blake (East Islip, N.Y.) set down the Golden Bears lineup through three scoreless frames until the top of the fourth when Western New England sophomore shortstop Gabby Lavinio (Dalton, Mass.) blasted an opposite field solo homerun to make it a 7-1 game. Blake settled down to record her seventh win of the season by going six innings and allowing one earned run on four hits with no walks while striking out five.
Gulls freshman outfielder Stephanie Cameron (Milford, Conn.) went 2-for-4 in the win with two runs scored and a RBI double down the right field line in the bottom of the sixth to produce the walk-off win. Freshman centerfielder Danielle Stratton (Agawam, Mass.) scored on the play after reaching on an infield single and advancing into scoring position on a Jamie Corda (Higganum, Conn.) sacrifice bunt.
Junior catcher Emily Hoffman (Malden, Mass.) would also score twice in the game and swipe two bags while calling a solid game behind the dish.
Game Two: Western New England 6, Endicott 1
Western New England scored early and often in game two, scoring twice in the first, second, and third innings to take a command 6-0 lead before a DiBella RBI single to right plated Corda for Endicott's lone run.
The Gulls ran into a strong pitching performance from Golden Bears senior pitcher Lauren Zambrano (Wallingford, Conn.) who threw a complete-game and struck out 10 batters while scattering five hits with three free passes allowed. Zambrano improved to 7-1 on the year.
Zambrano also did her part offensively with her only hit of the game accounting for two runs in the top of the first as she singled home Corianna DeLisi (Tuxedo, N.Y.) and Samantha Mulhern (Worcester, Mass.) to put Western New England on top 2-0. The very next inning, Mulhern would hit a blooper in the infield that landed for a hit and brought home junior McKenzie Pezze (Albany, N.Y.). Mulhern would later score on a RBI single through the left side of the infield by Alexis Bukowski (Wallingford, Conn.).
Western New England's final two runs came in the top of the third off the bat of DeLisi who went 4-for-4 in game two to lead the Golden Bears 15-hit parade. DeLisi singled up the middle and plated Pezze and Grace Kucharski (Avon. Conn.) to cap off the scoring for the visitors.
