LEESBURG, Fla. – The Endicott softball team split a pair of games against Keene State College and Westfield State University on Monday night at the NTC Spring Games. Endicott defeated Keene State, 4-0, but fell to Westfield State in the nightcap, 3-2.
GAME ONE: Endicott 4, Keene State 0
Freshman pitcher Maggie Oram (Lexington, Mass.) dominated Keene State in her collegiate debut as the first-year tossed a complete-game shutout on four hits, three walks, and one strikeout. Oram also notched three 1-2-3 innings (3rd, 4th, 7th) and retired eight straight batters from the end of the second until the fifth.
Molly St. Germain (Dover, N.H.) was dealt the loss on six innings, seven hits, four runs (one earned), zero walks, and two punchouts.
Tied 0-0 in the bottom of the fourth, Endicott scored a pair of runs via a throwing error and a suicide squeeze play executed by KK Palmerino (Glenmont, N.Y.) who dropped a perfect bunt down the first base line that scored Olivia Odermatt (Cheshire, Conn.) from third.
The Gulls also added two insurance runs in the sixth to close out the victory.
GAME TWO: Westfield State 3, Endicott 2
Westfield State sophomore pitcher Sarah Eugenio (Marshfield, Mass.) claimed the win on seven innings pitched, seven hits, two runs (one earned), five free passes, and two strikeouts.
Endicott freshman Rylie Strong (Arvada, Colo.) took the hard-luck loss on six innings, seven hits, three runs (one earned), zero walks, and seven punchouts.
The Gulls claimed an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Casie Beauchemin (Lincoln, R.I.) scored on an error after Hayley Arduini (Southington, Conn.) swiped second base.
Westfield State answered right back in the bottom half of the inning, however, as Liz Kelly (Quincy, Mass.) knocked in a run with an RBI groundout to the pitcher.
In the third, the Owls brought across two more with Julia Sullivan's (West Barnstable, Mass.) run-producing single to left field. The other run scored on the backend of the play because of a fielding error.
Endicott did cut its deficit to one in fifth with a sharp RBI single up the middle from Jamie Hopgood (Warwick, R.I.), but Eugenio escaped further damage with runners on first and second with two outs on a fly out to right field. Eugenio only allowed two base runners to reach first base the rest of the way – one walk in the sixth and seventh – for her team's first win of the season
NOTES
- Julia McNeill (Smithtown, N.Y.) went 3-for-6 and scored two runs, combined, in both games.
- Palmerino was 2-for-6 with one RBI.
- Gina DeMilt (Princeton Junction, N.J.) also had two hits on the day (2-for-3 vs. Westfield State).
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (3-1) plays Fitchburg State and Bethel (Minn.) tomorrow at 6 and 8:30 PM, respectively, on day three of the NTC Spring Games. For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
