SOFTBALL EXTENDS WIN-STREAK TO SIX; SWEEPS MOUNT IDA IN GNAC ACTION

THE BASICS 

Scores:             Mount Ida College, 0; Emmanuel College, 8
                        Mount Ida College, 3; Emmanuel College, 11
Records:           Emmanuel College Saints (18-15, 11-9 GNAC)
                        Mount Ida College Mustangs (14-21, 8-12 GNAC)
Location:          Boston, Mass. – Roberto Clemente Field
Date:               Thursday, April 26, 2018

THE LEAD: The Emmanuel College softball team extended its winning streak to six games with a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) sweep over Mount Ida College on Thursday evening at Roberto Clemente Field. The Saints posted an 8-0 victory in game one followed by an 11-3 win in game two.

HOW IT HAPPENED  

GM 1

• Junior pitcher Olivia Burgos (Newington, Conn.) tossed a complete game shutout, allowing just one hit over five innings while striking out three to power the Saints to an 8-0 victory. She added a 3-for-4 outing at the plate, scoring two while driving in a pair.
• Emmanuel got on the board in the second inning to take a 1-0 lead on an RBI double to right centerfield by sophomore outfielder Yuleska Ramirez-Tejeda (South Boston, Mass.).
• The Saints made it 3-0 in the third as junior catcher Casey Sheehan (Medway, Mass.) connected on an RBI single before junior Ashley Skey (Brookline, N.H.) drove in Sheehan with her 100^th career hit on an RBI double down the left field line.
• Burgos helped her own cause in the fifth starting off a five-run inning with a solo blast, her fifth homer of the year to make it 4-0 and after the Saints batted around, Burgos would end it with a walk-off RBI single to left to drive in the eighth Emmanuel run to end the action in five innings, 8-0.
• The lone Mustangs hit came in the second inning on a single to left by junior Kelsey Weston (Hampstead, N.H.) before Burgos retired the final 10 batters she faced for the win to improve to 9-6 on the year.
• Freshman hurler Madeleine Smith (San Diego, Calif.) suffered the loss for Mount Ida falling to 6-9 on the year.

GM 2

• Mount Ida jumped out to an early 1-0 lead behind an RBI single in the first inning from senior shortstop Hayley Microulis (Pawtucket, R.I.) but the Saints answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning to take the lead for good.
• EC took the lead on a two-RBI single to right center by Skey before freshman second baseman Meaghan Price (Corning, N.Y.) made it 4-1 with a ground-rule double to left to drive in a pair.
• The Mustangs cut the deficit to 4-3 plating two runs in the third. Freshman Savannah Neilan (Somerset, Mass.) blasted what looked like a single to right field to drive in the first run but the ball was hit so hard that Ramirez-Tejeda was able to cut her down at first on a heads up play with the 9-3 force out. Neilan earned the RBI on the play and later in the frame freshman Jill Skalski (Cranford, N.J.) drove in another run with an RBI double to left to make it a one-run game.
• Emmanuel broke the game open in the bottom of the third, plating six runs to take a 10-3 lead. Junior shortstop Audrey Esakoff (Ventura, Calif.) drove in a pair with a two-RBI triple before Ramirez-Tejeda delivered the knockout blow with a three-run line drive home run to center field.
• Skey wrapped up the Saints' scoring with a solo blast to left to account for the 11-3 final.
• EC freshman hurler Mikaela Montemagni (Chicopee, Mass.) earned her second collegiate win to improve to 2-2 on the year going the distance an allowing the three runs (one earned) on five hits while striking out seven.
• Freshman Carrigan Costello (Wolcott, Conn.) suffered the loss for the Mustangs to fall to 6-10 on the year and was relieved by Hannah Doherty (Hampton, N.H.) who tossed the final 1.2 innings allowing just one run on two hits.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

• During the six-game winning streak, the Emmanuel pitching staff has allowed just four total runs with only two of them being earned for a 0.39 ERA.
• Skey became the third Emmanuel player this season to pick up her 100^th career hit, following in the footsteps of both Sheehan and Burgos.
• Sheehan is currently on a seven-game hitting streak in which she is batting .545 (12-for-22).

UP NEXT

• Emmanuel returns to action tomorrow evening for its final regular-season home games of the year against Regis College at 6:00 PM in more GNAC action.
• The Mustangs are return to the diamond tomorrow, heading to Standish, Maine for an afternoon twinbill against Saint Joseph's College starting at 3:00 PM.