Jumbos halt Endicott streak at 16 games
April 25, 2009
Box Score - Game One / Box Score - Game Two
MEDFORD, Mass. - Endicott College saw its run of 16-straight wins come to end as the Gulls ran into the \#5 team in the nation, Tufts University, and were swept in a non-conference double-header, 4-1 and 8-5, on Saturday afternoon at Spicer Field in Medford, Mass. The Gulls drop to 33-6 overall while the Jumbos improve to 34-0 and remain ranked the No.1 team in New England.
Lauren Gelmetti (Westfield, N.J.) and Endicott sophomore Jenna Bortolotti (Milton, Mass.) were in a pitcher's duel for the first half of game one. In the top of the first, Endicott senior 1B Casey Shanley (Billerica, MA) singled and stole second, but Gelmetti left her there by getting the next two outs. Bortolotti stranded four Jumbo runners on base in the second and third innings.
A hit batter and an error by the Gulls started a rally in which Tufts scored all of its runs in the fourth inning. Senior Sam Kuhles (Somerville, N.J.) hit a two-run single and Casey Sullivan (Berlin, Conn.) laced a two-run double. Endicott's Katherine McGann (Topsfield, Mass.) popped a solo home run with two outs in the fifth to pull Endicott within 4-1. Neither pitcher allowed much after that.
Gelmetti finished with seven strike outs and did not walk a batter, improving to 14-0 this spring. Bortolotti allowed seven hits and three earned runs, walking one and striking out two in her six innings.
Sullivan was 2-for-4 and stole a base for Tufts. Kuhles finished 2-for-3 and scored a run. Sophomore Hayley Hovhanessian (Farmington, CT) was 2-for-3 for the Gulls, though she was picked off first base following a single in the second inning by her older sister, Tufts catcher Cara Hovhanessian (Farmington, Conn.).
The Jumbos trailed for the first time since April 12 against Wellesley when Endicott scored in the first inning of game two. Jenna Lazar (Milton, Mass.) led off with a bunt single and eventually scored on a double by senior catcher Meghan Sargent (Salisbury, Mass.). However, Tufts responded with four in the bottom of the inning. Sullivan and Laura Chapman (Seattle, Wash.) both singled and scored in the frame.
Pitchers Izzie Santone (Madison, Conn.) for Tufts and Endicott's Jackie Collier (Swampscott, Mass.) threw blanks in the second through fourth innings. Endicott loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth and scored on an infield single by junior Merry MacDonald (Braintree, Mass.), plating Megan Downey (Ballston Lake, N.Y.), who had started the rally with a single. Tufts again had a response, scoring four in the bottom of the fifth to make their advantage 8-2. Both senior right fielder Maya Ripecky (Chicago, Ill.) and Lena Cantone (Southington, Conn.) hit RBI singles and scored runs in the inning.
Endicott scored three times in the top of the seventh, including a two-run homerun by MacDonald, but Santone finished off her 16th win of the season. She allowed 12 hits and five runs while striking out two with no walks. Collier took the loss, giving up 11 hits and six earned runs with two strike outs and two walks.
Ripecky (2-for-3, two RBI, run) joined Chapman (three hits, two runs) as Jumbos with multiple hits in the second game. Lazar (3-for-4, two runs), MacDonald (3-for-4, three RBI, run) and Downey (2-for-3, two runs) spiked the Gulls' attack.
Endicott will move onto the TCCC Tournament which will begin for the Gulls on Tuesday afternoon. Tufts looks to play for an undefeated season when they travel to Waltham, Mass. for a NESCAC double-header with Brandeis on the same day.