SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Endicott softball team earned a split at Western New England University Sunday afternoon in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) doubleheader action at Golden Bear Softball Park as the Gulls pulled out a 6-1 victory in game two to give the Golden Bears their first conference loss after falling 3-2 in game one.
GAME 1 – Western New England 3, Endicott 2
The Gulls struck first in the top of the second for Endicott's only runs of the game as sophomore center fielder Casie Beauchemin's (Lincoln, R.I.) two-RBI single to center drove in senior left fielder Jamie Corda (Higganum, Conn.) and senior catcher Emily Hoffman (Malden, Mass.).
The Golden Bears matched those runs in the bottom of the third as junior shortstop Gabby Lavinio (Dalton, Mass.) homered with junior catcher Corianna DeLisi (Tuxedo, N.Y.) on base.
DeLisi's double down the left field line in the bottom of the fourth proved to be the difference as sophomore designated player Jenn Luba (Plymouth, Conn.) scored the game-winning run.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Senior Courtney Blake (East Islip, N.Y.) was the losing pitcher (5-5) as she threw six innings and allowed three runs on nine hits, walked one and struck out five.
FOR THE FOES
- Senior Heidi Grieger (Hyde Park, N.Y.) picked up her eighth win of the season (8-4) sat down seven by way of the K as she spun a complete-game five-hitter alongside four walks.
- DeLisi, Lavinio, and senior first baseman Heather Fecteau (Biddeford, Maine) combined for six of the hosts' nine hits in the game with two apiece.
GAME 2 – Endicott 6, Western New England 1
The Gulls got on the board first as McNeill's sacrifice fly to center plated junior second baseman Chrissy Gikas (Danvers, Mass.).
McNeill smashed her first career home run to left field in the fifth inning to spot the Gulls a 3-0 lead.
The Golden Bears got one back in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI double by Lavinio for the host's lone run of the game.
Endicott tacked on two more runs in the sixth and added an insurance run in the seventh to snap a three-game losing skid.
Freshman pitcher Laura Somerville (Suffield, Conn.) tossed her third complete-game of the season en route to victory (3-2) as she scattered seven hits and allowed one run, one walk and fanned six batters.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- 15 hits is the most in a seven-inning game for the Gulls this season. (16 against Plymouth St. in 10 innings.)
- Four extra-base hits (three doubles, one home run) in the game was a season-high for the Gulls.
- Corda's two doubles was a season-high and tied her career-high with two two-baggers in a single game as her double in the seventh inning gave her exactly 100 career hits.
- Gikas registered three hits in a single game for the second time this season.
- Sophomore shortstop Kayla Sheldon (Burlington, Mass.) collected a season-high two hits and drove in her first run of the season.
- Beauchemin scored a game-high two runs.
FOR THE FOES
- Junior pitcher Samantha Digiovanni (Shirley, N.Y.) was tagged with the loss (2-4) as she lasted six innings in the circle while surrendering six runs (four earned) on 14 hits and struck out one before being replaced by sophomore Emily Cramer (Stoughton, Mass.) to begin the seventh.
- DeLisi and Fecteau each tallied two hits apiece for Western New England.
NOTES
- The Gulls are 20-9 all-time and 6-5 on the road at Western New England, as the Gulls split last season's doubleheader (W 9-1, L 6-1) before falling 4-1 to the Golden Bears in the CCC Championship on May 2, 2015 in the most recent meeting before today.
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (10-8, 3-3 CCC) welcomes Salem St. University to its campus for a non-conference doubleheader on Tuesday, April 12 with the first pitch scheduled for 3:00 p.m. Western New England (14-8, 7-1) hosts Springfield College in a non-conference doubleheader on Wednesday, April 13 beginning at 3:00 p.m. For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
