Posted: May 12, 2012
WALTHAM, Mass. – The \#3 seeded Endicott softball team defeated \#7 Simmons and \#1 Brandeis on the first day of the double elimination portion of the ECAC DIII New England Tournament and earned a spot in the championship game without a loss.
The Gulls (25-17-1) will take on either Simmons or Brandeis who will play in the elimination game tomorrow morning at 11:00 am at Brandeis. The championship game is set for 1:00 pm.
\#3 Endicott 9, \#7 Simmons 1 (5 inn.)
Box Score
Endicott lifted off for four homeruns in a five-inning win over Simmons in their first game of the day including junior Colleen Martin’s (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) team-leading seventh and freshman Shelby Phillips’ (Taunton, Mass.) first collegiate homerun.
Both Martin and Phillips’ homeruns were part of a three-homerun bottom of the third that saw the Gulls go up 8-0 in the game. All homeruns came with two outs in the inning. Martin first hit a solo shot to right center, then junior Nicole Devlin (Dudley, Mass.) drove a two-run bomb to deep left center and finally Phillips hit another two-run homer to left center.
Endicott scored their first three runs of the game in the bottom of the first, again with two outs, off a three-run shot by junior Byrne Katz (Trumbull, Conn.) that brought home Jesse Bilafer (Concord, Mass.) and Martin.
In the circle, freshman Cam Sprague (Clifton Park, N.Y.) improved to 7-6 on the season after allowing one earned run on just two hits and three walks with four strikeouts.
Endicott added their final run in the bottom of the fourth on a RBI single to center by Martin as she finished 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored. Katz scored three times and both Bilafer and Devlin swiped bags in this game.
\#3 Endicott 6, \#1 Brandeis 1
Box Score
In game two, sophomore centerfielder Alexandra Moise (North Reading, Mass.) hit a two-run homer in the top of the fifth, her second of the season, to add much needed insurance runs against the top-ranked team in the tournament. Katz added her second homerun of the day, a solo shot an inning earlier, to help Endicott reach the ECAC Championship game.
The Blue and Green never trailed in this game as they jumped out to early lead with two runs in the top of the first. After Bilafer singled up the middle with one out to reach base, Martin tripled down the left field line to score the game’s first run. Martin scored after a wild pitch was issued to the next batter.
Brandeis got a run back in the bottom half of the inning after leadoff batter Amanda Genovese (North Haven, Conn.) doubled then stole third base. She then scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Brittany Grimm (Perkiomenville, Pa.) to make it 2-1.
Katz’ homer in the fourth made it 3-1, then Moise added two more with her bomb to straight away centerfield. One more run for the Gulls came in the top of the sixth on a first and third double steal by Jess Linden (Stratford, Conn.) and Katelyn Soja (Chicopee, Mass.).
Sophomore hurler Nell O’Connor (Harwich, Mass.) went the distance in this game to move to 10-7 on the year. She struck out five batters while allowing just the one earned run on five hits and two walks.
