March 17, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. - The Endicott College softball team used the mercy rule to its advantage on Tuesday as the Gulls defeated Westminster College, 10-2, in five innings and then followed that up with a 9-1 win over the University of Wisconsin Stevens-Point in five innings on Tuesday afternoon in Orlando, Fla. The Gulls improve to 5-1 overall on their trip as senior Meghan Sargent (Salisbury, Mass.) hit a grand slam in the Gulls victory over Westminster.
In the first game, Ashley Wright (Merrimack, N.H.) got her first start of the season for the Gulls and picked up the win over the Titans by giving up only two earned runs in 4.2 innings. Wright gave up the runs in the first inning of action but that would be all Westminster could muster as the Endicott offense would prove to be too much.
Sargent carried the offense in the first game as she hit a grand slam in the Gulls' six-run second inning. Casey Shanley (Billerica, Mass.) and Merry MacDonald (Braintree, Mass.) drove in the other two runs in the inning for the Gulls. MacDonald would drive in a pair of runs in the game while Katherine McGann (Topsfield, Mass.) and Megan Downey (Ballston Lake, N.Y.)each drove in a run with Downey going 3-for-3 on the day.
In the second contest of the day, the Gulls did most of their damage in the second inning while facing a 1-0 deficit. The Gulls tied the score as Hayley Hovhanessian (Farmington, Conn.) drove in her first collegiate RBI after a Sarah Spaziano (Norton, Mass.) double. The Gulls would eventually load the bases and Casey Shanley would hit a bases-clearing double to give Endicott the 4-1 lead.
That would be all Jackie Collier (Swampscott, Mass.) would need as she picked up her second victory of the season by going five innings while giving up only six hits and one earned run. Shanley would drive in five runs in the contest while Hovhanessian went a perfect 2-for-2 with a pair of RBI and two runs scored.
Endicott returns to action on Wednesday when they face-off against Framingham State College at 9:00 a.m. followed by a matchup with Rowan University at 11:00 a.m.
