ENDICOTT SOFTBALL HEAD COACH MARK VEILLEUX POSTGAME INTERVIEW

BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott softball team blanked visiting Eastern Nazarene (3-0, 8-0 [6 inn.]) to complete a doubleheader sweep Friday afternoon at the Softball Field.

GAME 1 – Endicott 3, Eastern Nazarene 0

The Gulls shutout the Lions in game one by putting up a two-spot in the bottom of the third as freshman designated player Hayley Arduini (Southington, Conn.) ripped a solo home run to center field to give the hosts their first run of the day, followed by senior catcher Emily Hoffman's (Malden, Mass.) RBI single to right center that plated sophomore center fielder Casie Beauchemin (Lincoln, R.I.).

Endicott added an insurance run in the bottom of the fourth as Arduini's infield single to shortstop was enough to score senior third baseman Samantha DiBella (Danvers, Mass.) from third.

Senior pitcher Courtney Blake (East Islip, N.Y.) escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first inning unscathed as she scattered three hits and three walks in the complete-game effort and recorded three strikeouts.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Blake tossed her sixth complete-game of the season en route to picking up her sixth win (6-6) as she faced just 25 batters.
• Blake threw her second shutout of the season.
• Arduini has hit solo home runs in each of the Gulls' past two games.
• Beauchemin, Arduini, and Hoffman paced the Gulls with two hits apiece.

FOR THE FOES

• Sophomore pitcher Heidi Gomez (Floral Park, N.Y.) suffered the loss (6-10) as she allowed three runs on 10 hits, walked two and struck out one.

GAME 2 – Endicott 8, Eastern Nazarene 0 (6 inn.)

In game two of the twin bill, the Gulls and Lions played three scoreless innings until Endicott was able to break the seal in the bottom of the fourth.

With runners on second and third and one out, senior left fielder Jamie Corda (Higganum, Conn.) hit a sacrifice fly to center field to plate sophomore pinch runner Stephanie Cameron (Milford, Conn.) with the game's first run. Next up, Arduini stroked a ball to left field to score junior right fielder Julia McNeill (Smithtown, N.Y.) to give Endicott a 2-0 lead.

The Gulls erupted for six runs on six hits in the bottom of the sixth as a bases-loaded single to center off the bat of Arduini with one out got the party started, scoring McNeill.

DiBella's two-RBI double to left center brought around Hoffman and Corda, followed by sophomore shortstop Kayla Sheldon's (Burlington, Mass.) single to center to plate Arduini.

Junior center fielder Ilyza Holman (Ashland, Mass.) sliced a sacrifice fly into center in her only plate appearance of the day to bring home DiBella before junior second baseman Chrissy Gikas (Danvers, Mass.) walked off with an RBI single scoring Sheldon to enact the run rule.

Freshman pitcher Laura Somerville (Suffield, Conn.) earned her fourth win of the season (4-2) as she spun six shutout innings and allowed zero walks, while giving up just three hits and fanned a career-high seven batters.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• The Gulls posted back-to-back shutouts for the first time this season.
• Somerville registered her first career shutout and retired the last 12 batters she faced in order after allowing a single to freshman left fielder Meghan Stanley (Bedford, Mass.) to lead off the top of the third.
• The Gulls out-hit the Lions, 10-3, to have identical hit totals to game one for both teams.
• DiBella had the only extra-base hit in the game as she doubled in the sixth inning.
• McNeill, Arduini, and Sheldon led the Gulls with two hits apiece in the game.

FOR THE FOES

• H. Gomez was tagged with the loss (6-11) as she surrendered eight runs on 10 hits, walked three and struck out one in 5 2/3 innings of work.
• The Lions have lost four games in a row.

NOTES

• The Gulls are 30-1 all-time and 17-1 at home against the Lions dating back to April 19, 2001.
• Endicott has won 11 straight in this series, with the most recent victories before today being a doubleheader sweep (11-0, 8-0) on April 12, 2014.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (12-10, 5-3 CCC) travels to face Salve Regina on Saturday, April 16 in a CCC doubleheader at 1:00 p.m./ 3:00 p.m. Eastern Nazarene College (11-17, 5-7 CCC) hosts Roger Williams on Saturday, April 16 in a CCC doubleheader at 1:00/3:00 p.m.  

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