Gulls Split in Regional Doubleheader with Lesley

BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott softball team hosted Lesley on Wednesday evening for a non-conference doubleheader. In game one, the Gulls soared to a 5-0 victory behind a two-run homerun from freshman Margaret Martzolf (Port Saint Lucie, Fla.). In game two, the Lynx made a sixth inning comeback to take the14-12 victory. Endicott heads into the weekend at 13-12 while Lesley improves to 5-12.

Endicott will see action next on Sunday, April 19^th as they host the University of New England for a CCC doubleheader starting at noon. Lesley will play next tomorrow, April 16^th as they host NECC opponent Newbury for a doubleheader at 3:30 p.m.

Game One: Endicott 5, Lesley 0

In game one, junior Courtney Blake (East Islip, N.Y.) controlled the circle hurling all seven innings while throwing three strikeouts and allowing just four hits in the victory. Offensively the Blue and Green were led by two RBI's from Martzolf off her homerun while sophomore Hannah Graney (Acton, Mass.) and sophomore Chrissy Gikas (Danvers, Mass.) also tabbed an RBI in the victory.

The first inning was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth when the Gulls finally put three runs on the scoreboard. With runners on second and third, Graney singled allowing junior Sam DiBella (Danvers, Mass.) to cross home plate. On the same play, there was a throwing error by the Lynx which created an opportunity for junior Emily Hoffman (Malden, Mass.) to make it a 2-0 game. To close out the inning, Gikas would follow with her single to center field to send Graney home from second.

In the bottom of the fifth the Blue and Green tabbed their final two runs of the game as Martzolf ripped her second homerun of the season with senior Jess Linden (Stratford, Conn.) on second to secure the 5-0 victory.

Game Two: Lesley 14, Endicott 12

In game two the Lynx came out firing as five different players earned two RBI's in the regional matchup. Freshman Courtney Goggin (Cheshire, Conn.) started the sixth inning comeback after she started off the inning with her second career homerun which lead to a 9-9 score heading into the bottom.

Lesley opened up the game with three early runs in the top of the first with key RBI's from freshman Jillian Sbardella (Dartmouth, Mass.) and sophomore Alyson Nisbet (Clovis, Calif.) for the 3-0 lead.

In the bottom of the first, DiBella would answer back as she singled to the outfield to give junior Jamie Corda (Higganum, Conn.) and freshman Stephanie Cameron (Milford, Conn.) room to move around the bases to make it a one run game.

After freshman Mikaela Mallozzi (Shelton, Conn.) hurled a 1-2-3 top of the second, the Blue and Green picked up their offense in the bottom scoring five runs to take the 7-3 lead. In the inning Corda, Cameron and DiBella all recorded ribbies with both Cameron and DiBella earning two each.

Lesley would slowly start to creep back up on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth as both, Kelsy Lynch (Rumford, R.I.) and junior Selena Quezada (West Corvina, Calif.) made key offensive plays to make it a 7-5 score in the Gulls favor.

Endicott would kick the lead back up to four in the bottom of the fifth as Gikas sacrificed to centerfield and Corda singled to right field to tally a combined two RBI's on the inning. The top of the sixth for the Lynx would show strong offensive movement putting up four runs to force a 9-9 tie game. Along with an RBI from Goggin and Quezada, sophomore Carlyn Barker (Temecula, Calif.) brought in the game tying runs with her single to centerfield that added two to the scoreboard.

Nisbet would break the tie in the top of the seventh with a single to center for the 10-9 score. The lead would give the Lynx a boost that added four more runs to hold a 14-9 lead heading into the final half of the inning.

Down by six Endicott worked their offensive game to the bases loaded, and sophomore Ilyza Holman (Ashland, Mass.) would triple to right center to send home three RBI's to make it a two-run game. Despite the boost, Sbardella would close out the inning to give the Lynx their fifth win of the season.